VIRGINIA — For likely the first time ever, a high school hockey game will be broadcast in Ojibwe.
Two of the announcers of the Minnesota Wild’s historic Ojibwe-language broadcast in November 2025 will announce two games for the Rock Ridge Gwiingwa’aageg (Wolverines).
Gordon “Maajiigoneyaash” Jourdain of the Lac La Croix First Nation and Chato “Ombishkebines” Gonzalez of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe will announce the girls game against Cloquet-Esko-Carlton on Tuesday, Jan. 20, and the boys game against Grand Rapids on Jan. 30.
“This is a huge, huge honor for them to come here to our community, and this is big for the Indigenous community,” Rock Ridge Indigenous Education Director Maria Poderzay told the School Board on Monday.
The games will both be part of Native American Heritage Hockey Nights and will include Lake Vermilion drummers from the Bois Forte Band and student and alumni dancers.
Both games are at 7 p.m. at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia.
The games will be streamed on the Wolverine Activities and Athletics YouTube page and broadcast live on KBFT 89.9 FM Bois Forte Tribal Community Radio.
The effort was inspired by the Wild’s Native American Heritage Day broadcast.
Last year, the Rock Ridge Indigenous Education program received a Language Revitalization Grant from the Minnesota Department of Education. The large grant must be spent by the end of the school year and has been used to hire an Ojibwe language teacher and guest speakers.
Paul Gregersen, executive director of nonprofit CHAIR — or Cultures, Humanities, and Arts on the Iron Range — approached Poderzay and suggested using some of the grant to bring the broadcasters to the Iron Range.
“We actually didn’t think we would hear anything back from them,” Poderzay said. “And we did, so we went running with it.”
Meredith TwoCrow is president of the district’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee. She told the Board when she played hockey, there was no inclusion of Native culture.
“I know that it is a big step and a big leap to allow Indigenous language like this into such a huge integration into school and even society,” she said.
“Being a Native American enrolled band member, I’ve always dealt with systematic racism and the fact that this is just overpowering that by miles and allowing us to really live in our culture and share our culture almost brings me to tears.”
It will be a big couple of weeks of hockey for Rock Ridge, with the boys also playing in Hockey Day Minnesota in Hastings on Jan. 24.
Gregersen said they will invite the Minnesota Wild organization to the games. According to team lore, the Wild’s mascot Nordy was found skating on the lakes and ponds near Eveleth.
He said the organizers strategically chose the games based on Rock Ridge’s opponents. The Cloquet and Carlton school districts overlap with the Fond du Lac Reservation, and Grand Rapids has a large Ojibwe community with its proximity to Leech Lake.
Plus, the Wolverine-Thunderhawk matchup is the biggest game of the year.
“It’s our hope that this does have wide, wide reach,” Gregersen said.
“ ... This is the first time that we know that this [an Ojibwe-language high school broadcast] has happened anywhere in the country, and we believe that it’s something that’s going to continue throughout the state and the country. So, it’s something that we can be proud of.”
