Odjick was born in an Algonquin Native Reserve named Kitigan Zibi just outside the town of Maniwaki, Quebec. His father, Joe, was born in 1939 at Rapid Lake to Basil, a trapper and fishing guide, who was later killed in France in 1945 during the Second World War, and Marie-Antoinette Marchand, who was part-French. At the age of nine Joe was sent to a residential school in Spanish, Ontario. The registration number he was given at the school, 29, was later used by Odjick during his playing career. Odjick was the fourth child and only son of six children for Joe and Giselle, after Debbie, Shelley, Judy and ahead of Janique and Dina; there were also several foster children raised by the Odjicks, at least 32. Originally named Wayne, Odjick was soon given a new name, Gino, as the family found out there was another Wayne on the reserve.\n', '

From an early age Odjick played hockey, but it was not until he was 11 that he joined an organized team, which would be managed by Joe. He played in the 1983 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Maniwaki. Until he was 15 Odjick stayed with local teams that mainly played other teams from reserves, often coached by his father. At that age, considering quitting hockey to pursue other activities, Odjick accepted a try-out for the Hawkesbury Hawks, a Tier II junior team from Ontario; though he had been a defensive defenceman until that point, Odjick soon realised that his skills were not good enough, and instead became an enforcer. It was while in Hawkesbury that Odjick was first given the nickname "the Algonquin Assassin," a reference to his heritage and skills as a fighter.\n', '

He credited his sense of defending his team and fighting skills in part due to racial tensions between natives of the reserve and nearby townspeople.\n', '

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