Native America Calling: The fight to recognize Taffy Abel’s historic NHL achievement

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Native America Calling: The fight to recognize Taffy Abel’s historic NHL achievement

Thursday, October 16, 2025

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The fight to recognize Taffy Abel’s historic NHL achievement

It’s been almost a full century since Ojibwe hockey player Taffy Abel first set foot on the ice as a New York Rangers defenseman.

It was a historic moment that was not acknowledged at the time in the professional hockey world or even by Abel himself. At the time, he kept his Native American identity a secret — at first to escape the forced attendance at Indian Boarding Schools, then later to avoid the discrimination that could hinder his career.

Now, his descendants want him recognized, after the fact, as the man who broke the pro hockey color barrier. Abel carried the American flag in the first Winter Olympics in 1924. He went on to help both the Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks win Stanley Cup championships.

NDN All-Stars: Clarence “Taffy” Abel – Breaking Barriers in Hockey – an Interview with Hockey Historian George Jones

Guests on Native America Calling

Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan

Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota), 1964 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and founder of Running Strong for Indian Youth

George Jones, nephew of Clarence “Taffy” Abel, retired economist and Indigenous hockey historian