'Little Mountain' Kyrie Irving Honored By Standing Rock Sioux Tribe In North Dakota
BOSTON (CBS) -- Kyrie Irving's bag of tricks on the basketball court has earned him a handful of nicknames over the years.
Many refer to the Celtics point guard as a wizard or magician due to his incredible arsenal of moves on the floor. He's also known to go by Uncle Drew after his famous character in Pepsi commercials, which also enjoyed success on the big screen this summer.
After being honored by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Thursday, Irving has a new nickname to add to the list
Irving, whose late mother, grandmother and great-grandparents were citizens of the tribe, has taken pride in his heritage throughout his career. Thursday's celebration in Fort Yates, North Dakota included a naming ceremony for Irving and his sister, Asia, cementing their place in the tribe. According to Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post, Irving was given the name "Little Mountain," while his sister was given the name "Buffalo Woman."
Wearing a traditional shirt with ribbons, Irving stood on a buffalo skin and was prayed over by a tribe elder, Vernon Iron Horse. As a drum group played and chanted, Irving was wrapped in a blanket, had an eagle feather tied into his hair along with a medicine ball made of porcupine quills, and had a beaded medallion placed over his head as his name was revealed to him.
"We're welcoming home two of our own," Standing Rock chairman Mike Faith said after the ceremony, via Windhorst. "This definitely is history."
Irving has a Standing Rock tattoo on the back of his neck, which he showed off in an Istagram post after he underwent season-ending knee surgery in April. He hash-tagged his message with #StandingRockSiouxTribe."
The All-Star point guard also showed off his Standing Rock pride on his newest sneaker, the Kyrie 4 Nike N7s released in June, which feature the Standing Rock seal on the heels of the shoe.
Irving -- or should we say, "Little Mountain" -- is expected to be back at full strength when the Celtics tip off training camp next month.