Legacy

Legacy can mean a lot of different things from your own family last name, to a legacy left behind in a sport like hockey - just like Wayne Gretzky breaking records in the NHL.

In life it is important to leave a mark in your life time. Maybe it is a story that would be carried down from generation to generation, or a song that was your life’s soundtrack. For me I believe that carrying a family last name is the best thing you can possibly do. The last name from your family has stories that you may never be aware of until a stranger who saw your last name somewhere in history sees it now on a pamphlet from a hockey game that your brother left. When I hear my last name I carry such pride that in this one life time I was given the chance to carry it.

I remember in elementary school some kid didn't think my name was cool and he bullied me for it until I hit him. I remember just standing over him and I looked at him in the eyes and said, “ Thunderchief is my last name and I would not have it any other way. You can call it what you want, but the history behind my name has great respect whether it is from other tribes telling story about Thunderchief ending wars, to hearing a white man tell a story about my brother hitting a kid center ice (and incidentally making him quit hockey) which gave him the name 'Thunder'". Ever since that day I have carried the word Thunderchief with a meaning that I continue to create. I am still making and leaving my own mark in this life - a legacy for myself.

I could tell you stories that were passed down from my grandfather who has passed, but that I still remember. His legacy was as a working man whose heart was with the rodeo. Then the legacy transforms to my father telling me his own choice that he started playing hockey, but turned it down to live taking care of the farm ranch, but he had a rodeo buckle under his belt that he won back to back times. Having a legacy is a great pride that should never be forgotten.

- I have chosen this picture because it shows a legacy that I have left playing hockey with my family number and last name on a hockey jersey that I earned.

Dierks Bentley - My last name -  I have put a link to a song entitled, "My Last Name". In the song the singer Dierks Bently talk about how proud he his to have his last name and what it have been made into.

-Nakoda Thunderchief