Loading articles...

Tribe to use Kyrie Irving donation for youth programs

Last Updated Aug 31, 2018 at 1:40 pm MDT

Boston Celtic point guard Kyrie Irving, with an eagle feather tied to his hair, tells the crowd gathered how gratified he is for the welcome he and his older sister, Asia Irving, have received during a naming ceremony in their honor, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 at the Prairie Knights Casino north of Fort Yates, N.D. on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Irving's mother, Elizabeth Larson, was an enrolled member of the tribe before being adopted as a youngster. Irving was named Little Mountain by the tribe. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

FORT YATES, N.D. – The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will use money donated by Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving for drug abuse prevention and youth programs.

The All-Star guard visited the Dakota reservation this month for a naming ceremony into the Lakota tribe. He was given the name Little Mountain. His late mother was enrolled in the tribe before being adopted as a youth.

Tribal spokeswoman Danielle Finn says Irving donated $110,000 to the tribe, with the stipulation it support the reservation’s youth.

The tribe’s finance committee decided part of the money will be disbursed by leaders of the reservation’s eight districts, with the rest going to drug prevention and education programs.

Irving said during his visit he considers the tribe “family for life.” He also has supported the tribe’s battle against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.