Charles Fox
Special to ICT
As the 2026 Winter Olympics open in Italy, the nephew of American hockey pioneer Taffy Abel will ask President Donald Trump to give Abel the Presidential Medal of Freedom — and the official recognition he has long been denied.
The request is the latest in a decades-long effort from nephew George Jones for honoring the Ojibwe athlete, who is widely recognized as the first Indigenous American in the Winter Olympics and the first to break the color barrier in the National Hockey League.
“I think it would be a great thing for Native Americans … not just for our family, but for Native Americans,” Jones told ICT. “It starts to tell some of the untold history of Native Americans.”
More than 100 years ago, Abel was a member of the silver-medal-winning U.S. hockey team in the very first Winter Olympics in 1924, played outdoors in Chamonix, France. He was also the flag-bearer for the United States and recited the Olympic oath for the team.
While Abel is believed to be the first Native American to participate in the Winter Olympics — and the only Indigenous American to carry the flag in Olympic history — he kept his Ojibwe heritage secret at the time.
Due to his light skin color, Abel racially passed as White during the Olympics and throughout his 333-game career in the National Hockey League, though he is widely believed to have been the first player of color to take the ice.
Abel’s parents began the practice of concealing their race to avoid having their two children taken from them and sent to Indian boarding schools in the early 1900s. His family was multi-racial, with Taffy’s father, John Abel, a White man, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and his mother, Charlotte Gurnoe Abel, from the Chippewa (Ojibwe) Sault Tribe.
It is likely Able would not have been put on the Olympic team or given the opportunity to play in the NHL if he had disclosed his Ojibwe heritage.
Because of his racial passing, however, the NHL has not recognized his pioneering achievements, despite being on two Stanley-Cup winning teams. While he was sometimes referred to as “Superman with skates” due to his physical play and size, not revealing his heritage by racially passing would be his kryptonite in later getting recognition.
Jones sees his uncle as the “Unseen Warrior” who used a White disguise “because of the deep societal prejudices against Indians in the early 1900s.”
The NHL has not responded to repeated requests from ICT for comment.
New life to an old resolution
The first day of 2026 was almost the last for Jones. He suffered a coronary event, and it is estimated he was dead for approximately 8 minutes before CPR by his wife and defibrillation by paramedics brought the 76-year-old man in Winter Haven, Florida back to life.
The near-death event, which Jones described as “transforming,” gave Jones yet another chance to win recognition for his uncle. While campaigning for a Congressional Medal of Honor or induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame requires convincing a large number of individuals to vote in Abel’s favor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is strictly the decision of the U.S. president.
In the end, it will require one man to convince one man of another man’s achievement.
“So, he’s [President Trump] got an America First policy. Well, why the hell not honor some of the first Americans here, too? That’s my point. They deserve it,” Jones told ICT. “Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. So, it’s not a foregone conclusion either way, but that’s not going to extinguish my advocacy to be on the right side of history.”
As of January 2025, 673 individuals have been awarded the medal but only six Native Americans — Wilma Mankiller, Suzan Shown Harjo, Eloise Cobell, Billy Frank Jr., Jim Thorpe, and Annie Dodge Wauneka.
The very low percentage of Native honorees, Jones feels, could work in his favor.
‘Errors of omission and silence’
This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the historic moment on Nov. 16, 1926, when Abel stepped onto the ice for the New York Rangers, becoming the first Indigenous American player in the National Hockey League. It was also the opening game in the inaugural season of the New York Rangers.
But there are numerous factors that work against Jones’ campaign. Getting recognition for his uncle has often put him at odds with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Trump has a long-standing relationship with Bettman and has praised the hockey commissioner for the “incredible” job he has done. In 2025, Trump appointed Bettman to his President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
Jones has never hesitated to speak poorly about Bettman in strong, condemning language and has accused the league of bypassing his uncle through “errors of omission and silence.”
Bettman and other league executives credit Willie O’Ree, the first Black (African-Canadian) player in the NHL, with breaking the league’s color barrier in 1958, proclaiming him the “Jackie Robinson of hockey.” It has been an ongoing point of contention between Jones and the NHL.
To strengthen his cause, Jones hopes to gain the support of the governors of Michigan, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota — the states where Abel played. He is also hoping for grassroots support.
While not reacting specifically to Jones’ campaign, the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Chairman Austin Lowes responded in an email to ICT.
“Taffy Abel is a hero in our community for being both an Olympian and the first American Indian to also play in the NHL,” Lowes said. “Our Tribe contributed several millions to support the renovations to the Lake Superior State University ice arena in the mid 1990s. In turn, the university named the university ice area the Taffy Abel Arena. We are very proud of Taffy and support recognition of his accomplishments.”
Jones said he will remain focused on his goal.
“I’m talking about my uncle’s legacy,” he said. “I think his legacy was forgotten.”