Taffy Abel carried the American flag at the 1924 Olympics, where his team won silver in hockey. Henry Elmer 鈥淏uddy鈥� Maracle played 11 games in the early-1930s NHL. Paul Jacobs may have played in the league鈥檚 second season in 1918-19.
But in the commonly known history of hockey, a predominantly white sport in North America and Europe, these three men and others have been late to receive credit as Indigenous pioneers. Now, as part of a worldwide reckoning with prejudice, hockey historians are delving deeper into the role of some of the first nonwhite professional hockey players.
Historians agree that there were Indigenous players on the ice well before Willie O鈥橰ee became the first Black player to skate in an NHL game in January 1958. O'Ree, who endured years of racism, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and had his No. 22 retired this year.
There are no detailed demographical records from the NHL鈥檚 earliest years, the league and historians say. Because of that 鈥� and because some players hid or downplayed their own Indigenous or Asian heritage to avoid racist treatment 鈥� defining the sport鈥檚 trailblazers and who broke the so-called color barrier in the NHL is difficult at best and likely impossible to prove.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to identify who was the first because if you go back into everyone鈥檚 certain ancestry, a lot of people will have Indigenous or other minority groups in them, so it鈥檚 hard to pinpoint,鈥� hockey historian and author Ty Di Lello said. 鈥淭here might be the first publicly known, but it鈥檚 probably near impossible just because so many people that had Indigenous or other minority backgrounds maybe didn鈥檛 look like it.鈥�
鈥� in 1948, a decade before O'Ree. And Di Lello and others wonder if there were Asian Americans or fellow Asian Canadians before Kwong, the son of two Chinese parents who was born in British Columbia.
鈥淲illie O鈥橰ee couldn鈥檛 hide it,鈥� historian Eric Zweig said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no stories of any Black players passing as white before Willie O鈥橰ee.鈥�
Fred Sasakamoose, who played 11 games in the mid-1950s, has long been recognized as the NHL's first Native Canadian player and became well known in the First Nations community. But historians and the Hall of Fame would give that distinction to Mohawk player Paul Jacobs 鈥� if he played in a game during the 1918-19 season, as may be the case.
Historical records are unclear and experts disagree on whether Paul Jacobs ever actually touched the ice. He was on the Toronto Arenas roster and, as the Hall of Fame notes, could have played in up to five games, which would make him the first nonwhite player in .
in 1926. Jones has ramped up his effort to bring attention to Abel, a big defenseman who 鈥減assed鈥� as white during his career before revealing his Native American heritage upon the death of his mother in 1939, five years after retiring.
鈥淭he reason he had to pass was not one of choice 鈥� it was one of survival,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of him, what he did 鈥� very proud. I know what he had to go through and the internal torment that he had to go through as part of this 鈥榩assing鈥� thing. He had depression, he had drinking problems, but he survived.鈥�
heralded Abel as 鈥渁 two-time Stanley Cup champion, ice hockey silver medalist at the 1924 Winter Olympics and one of the first known Native American players."
Jones, who has taken his argument to Commissioner Gary Bettman and other league officials, said that's not enough. He wants acknowledgment from the NHL that Abel broke the league鈥檚 color barrier as its first nonwhite player, saying in an email: 鈥淣ative American Taffy Abel was the first professional hockey player to break the NHL Color Barrier in 1926.鈥�
League executives and researchers say they have looked into cases like Abel's and Maracle's and are not comfortable declaring a 鈥渇irst鈥� among Native or Indigenous players because there's no way of proving it. Most NHL publications refer to O'Ree as the first Black player and Sasakamoose as the first Indigenous or First Nations player with treaty status.
It was more than a decade before Mike Marson became the NHL鈥檚 second Black player. More than 95% of current NHL players and nearly 84% of employees are white.
鈥淭he National Hockey League is determined to identify and celebrate the trailblazers on and off the ice who diversified our game 鈥� whether by being 鈥榝irst鈥� or by doing exemplary work," a league spokesperson said in an email to The Associated Press. "Understandably, record-keeping from the earliest days of the league 鈥� particularly as it pertained to the race and ethnicity of our players 鈥� was not what it is today. This complicates efforts to definitively identify individuals as the first of any particular group, but it does not diminish the contributions of these pioneers.鈥�
The NHL has been reckoning with in recent years and it how much people of color shaped the history of hockey.
That includes Native American and First Nations players. Beyond Jacobs, Abel, Maracle and Sasakamoose, there are almost certainly many more whose tales are still unknown. Dan Ninham started the in the hopes of finding more.
"There are so many Indigenous athletes and hockey players out there," Ninham said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e out there, and this is one of the ways we want to get their names and who they are out there and to continue their legacies.鈥�
Those legacies are complicated. Sam McKegney of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and one of the creators of the , argues national policies specifically in Canada discouraged members of the Indigenous peoples from embracing their heritage and used hockey in boarding schools as a way of pushing children from the First Nations to assimilate to white culture.
Avoiding boarding school and making it to the NHL, Jones said, is why Abel and his family kept being Native American a secret. He's almost certainly not alone.
from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at a moment of Indigenous resurgence,鈥� McKegney said. 鈥淩eclamation of history is going to illuminate people whose stories haven鈥檛 yet been told or haven鈥檛 been understood in the public light. I do think that we鈥檙e going to hear more of these stories.鈥�
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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
