Kyrie “Little Mountain” Irving honored by the Sioux tribe

Kyrie Irving was honored today at a homecoming event for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. During the ceremony was a naming event where Irving, and his sister Asia, received tribal names (“Little Mountain” and “Buffalo women”).

Among those to watch the ceremony was another Kyrie Irving, a nine-year-old tribe member who was named after the Celtics star. When the Washington Post’s Tim Bontemps asked Tracy, his father why he named his son after Irving, he got this: “Just the way he played. He plays different. He plays a lot like a Native American.”

For those unfamiliar with the story, Elizabeth Irving, the late mother of Kyrie was apart of the White Mountain family of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe as was his grandmother, Meredith Marie Mountain, who is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe today. Irving has long been a supporter fo the tribe, voicing his opinion regarding the #NoDAPL event.

As the tribe notes, “Kyrie has long known about his heritage and connection to the Standing Sioux Tribe and was an active supporter of the NoDAPL [Dakota Access Pipeline protests] movement, Kyrie recently released a Nike N7 shoe, that he designed, to honor the water, the Standing Sioux Tribe, and his late mother.”

After the crushing news of Irving’s injury last spring, he posted a long message on his instagram page towards the fans, but also a nod to the tribe which included a picture of the Sioux tribe tattoo that he has on the back of his neck.

Irving will now continue developing his roots with the tribe and follow in the footsteps of his family before him.