If you don’t know, Kyrie Irving, current star player for the Brooklyn Nets, has Native Heritage. His mother, Elizabeth Larson, was half African-American and half Sioux. Unfortunately, she passed away due to an illness when Irving was four. Even though he no longer has his mother physically, it is clear he carries her legacy with him through his connection to the Sioux tribe.
Irving has never shied away from embracing his Native heritage. He is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and bears the Lakota name Ȟéla meaning “little mountain”. This name honors both his heritage and the contributions he has made to the tribe. He also embraces his heritage by burning sage before games and has designed Nike shoes dedicated to his tribe.
Recently, the player shows how he continues to honor his tribe in an Instagram post. The post is clearly dedicated to his mother as he captions it:
Home ♾
@kyrieirving
I love you Mom.
Full circle
Hélá
Additionally, the post shares several pictures of him visiting the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The reservation is located across the border of North and South Dakota and there are over 15,000 members of the tribe. In his post, one of the most powerful pictures shows him in front of the Sitting Bull Monument honoring Sioux spiritual leader Tatanka Iyotake.
It is inspiring to see Irving embrace his native heritage proudly and continuously honoring his mother and his tribe. Since so many tribes and reservations have been wiped out throughout America’s nasty history, Native Americans are often not represented in many spaces. This includes sports. So, it is really great for someone of Native heritage to make history in the NBA and make way for others in the future.
