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NBA Superstar Kyrie Irving shows support for Misclassified People of North America Petition

Updated: Dec 16, 2023

First Tribe sends Thank you and Support to NBA Champion and American Indian Kyrie Irving for his signing and promoting of the URBAN INDIAN HERITAGE SOCIETY Misclassified People of North America Petition. The American Indian cultural identity can be absorbed by so many misnomers and misclassifications. We should always applaud and support one another when one seeks the journey of Truth and embraces that Truth with unapologetic love and commitment. When coming into the knowledge of laws needed to be changed for the inclusion of those who have faced misclassified paper/ digital genocide Hélà displayed the character greater than any Championship and continues to stand with those who are Tribe and demanding justice in these days.


Mvto Hélà

First Tribe Sign the Petition Here : https://www.change.org/p/remedy-for-the-misclassified-people-of-north-america?fbclid=IwAR0ESgBjjy4V40Lr2EqWUSIRMsOQWDWO-J24zdVMuKmGAKmS8EdeqfjL4NU


Kyrie Irving first publicly revealed any affiliation with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe during a Christmas 2016 interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

Yet, most people affiliated with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe were unaware of the relation. Kyrie didn't grow up on the reservation, and it had never been made public.

In 2018, Kyrie Irving visited Standing Rock Sioux Nation in North Dakota for the first time. The purpose of the visit, which was strictly off limits to video or photography, was to better understand his Native American heritage. The visit was also to honor his late mother, Elizabeth Larson, who was born into the tribe before she was adopted at a young age.

Kyrie didn't know his mother well. His parents separated when he was very young and his mother passed away when Kyrie was just 4 years old.

“There was a certain point in my life where I had come almost at a crossroads with my dad, my sister, my friends, my grandparents, and I had no idea kind of what direction to go into because I had lost the sense of a foundation,” Irving said at the ceremony. “Knowing my mom passed and left me such a powerful, empowering family such as Standing Rock … to be a part of it now, this is family for life.”

At the ceremony, Kyrie was given the name “Little Mountain,” or “Hela” in the Lakota language. It's a nod to his roots, which lie in the White Mountain family of the South Dakota portion of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Over the course of his career, Kyrie has helped the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, sending them millions of dollars in aid to battle COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic.

Kyrie Irving Official Tribal Membership

In August 2021, Irving returned to the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, this time to officialize his relationship with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

According to a witness, as reported by KFYR TV, Irving's enrollment application was approved by the tribal council and administration at the Standing Rock Lakota/Dakota Tribal Headquarters. The process, officially, made Kyrie Irving Native American. He was also honored with a star quilt to commemorate his tribal









During the trip, Irving also spent time visiting with children from both Pine Ridge High School and Red Cloud Indian School.

Smudging at NBA Game

Prior to a December 2020 game between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston, Kyrie Irving was seen burning sage in the arena. He reportedly said he wanted to cleanse the energy at TD Garden, where his former team played. He said he also planned to burn sage before every game that season. “[I want to] feel good about going to work … for my ancestors,” he said, a nod to his Standing Rock Sioux Native American heritage.




On June 21, 2018, Nike put out a version of Kyrie Irving's shoe that had the Standing Rock logo on the back and tongue.

The Kyrie 4 “N7” was part of a special Nike line of shoes that honor and support Native American and Aboriginal people across the world.


Kyrie Irving’s Mother

Born in Australia and playing high school basketball in the New Jersey, Irving didn’t know his mom Elizabeth very well. She passed away from sepsis when Kyrie was just four years old. What was know was that Kyrie’s mother was a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, and was biracial having a Native American mother and Black father according to The Washington Post.

That means that Kyrie Irving’s background is a lot more diverse than most casual fans know. If Elizabeth — named Cynthia Jeannette Mountain by her birth parents before she was given up for adoption — was half-Black and half Lakota American Indian

Irving has proudly embraced his quarter heritage of Sioux blood. In 2018, Nets star was given the Lakota name, “Hela,” (pronounced HAY’-law) which means “Little Mountain” [(his sister Asia was called “Tatanka Winyan” (tuh-TONG’-kuh WEE’-yun)] which means “Buffalo Woman.” Irving has also taken up burning sage before a game, a ritual popular among Native Americans to remove negative energy


Kyrie and his sister’s Lakota background actually gives them “Indian land grant rights.” As Kyrie became a superstar in the NBA, his relatives on the reservation that knew of his root attempted to contact him. Eventually, Danielle Finn, the Sioux tribe’s Director of External Affairs emailed the agency representing Kyrie and eventually started a conversation between the two parties.

“It’s something I’ve been searching for,” Char White Mountain said. “Our prayers were answered.”





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