IN LATE SUMMER 2016 , as
Abby Roque entered her freshman year
at Wisconsin, one of her new team-
mates made a f leeting comment that
forever changed her perspective. As
Roque recalls, “They were like, I
think you’re the first Indigenous hockey
player I’ve ever met. Maybe even the first
Indigenous person.”
In addition to belonging to the
roughly 570-member Wahnapitae First
Nation, part of the Ojibwe First Nation
based in northern Ontario, she grew up
in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., where one
of every 10 residents is Native American. Roque attended
communal powwows and other ceremonies. She skated
on a rink owned by a local tribe, sharing the ice with kids
who shared her culture. “She went to school every day
with kids from the reserve,” says her father, Jim. “She just
assumed everyone did that.”
But her college teammate’s admission helped awaken
Roque to the realities of a wider, whiter hockey world.
“That’s when it really clicked: Especially in America, being
an Indigenous player isn’t very common,” says Roque,
With several Te am USA fixtures
now retired, the center will lead
A NEW GENERATION’S QUEST for
glory while breaking new ground in
her sport as an Indigenous player
BY ALEX PREWITTDE
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BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS
ABBY
ROQUE
HOCKEY