Indian ancestry ‘special’ to Oshie
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 11, 2005
Imagine not learning your name until the age of 15.
In a sense, it happened to T.J. Oshie, a highly skilled hockey player who grew up in Everett and is on the fast track to the NHL.
In the summer of 2002, Oshie traveled to the tiny town of Warroad, Minn., to take part in a sacred Ojibwe Indian naming ceremony, one that most experience as an infant. One of Oshies distant relatives was a chief of Warroad, which got its title several centuries ago following fierce battles between the Sioux and the Ojibwe (pronounced Oh-jib-way, also known as Chippewa).
The day Oshie got his name, more than a dozen family and friends gathered at the Warroad home of Henry Boucha, Oshies second cousin. A full-blooded Ojibwe, Boucha (pronounced Boo-shay) played in the NHL and became a member of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
When the ceremony began, Oshie, his father and two of his younger siblings sat on a blanket. Joining them was an Ojibwe medicine man from Ontario, Canada. Although the medicine man had not met Oshie until that day, he already had chosen a name.
“It comes through the spirit world,” Boucha explained.
The medicine man packed his pipe with tobacco, smoked it, and prayed. Before revealing Oshies name, he burned sage and carefully wafted its smoke around the room with eagle feathers.
The time came to reveal Oshies Ojibwe name. The medicine man finally shared the words that reached him in dreams: Keeway Gaboo. Translated to English, it means “coming home.”
The names significance stirred Boucha. He knew Oshie was considering a move from Washington to Warroad to follow in the footsteps of his hockey-playing ancestors to return “home.” The moment overwhelmed Boucha, planting a stubborn lump in his throat.
“We are naturally guided by the Great Spirit to be here,” Boucha said. “Each one of us has a destiny.”
Oshies destiny, it seemed, was Warroad.
He moved there after all, winning two Class A state championships and becoming Warroad High Schools all-time leading scorer, topping Boucha and several other relatives. Recently picked by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2005 NHL Draft, Oshie said his Ojibwe names significance surprised him. He calls his Indian ancestry “special.”
Boucha couldnt agree more. As Oshie gains prominence in the world via his hockey talent, Boucha expects him “to be a world warrior and represent the Indian community.”
