Chris Wondolowski insists he is proud to call himself Native American after revealing he has bloodlines to Oklahoma's Kiowa tribe.
The San Jose Earthquakes striker, who was named 2012 MLS MVP, grew up in California but his grandmother hails from the American Indian tribe which originally started in the Great Plains and he is extremely proud to be one of the Kiowa people.
"I didn't go around wearing a nametag that said 'Hi, I'm Native American,' but if it ever came up, I've always been very proud to talk about it," Wondolowski told USA Today. "It's part of my history and my culture."
Wondolowski is currently doing some work for Nike's N7 program which sets out to help tribes in the US and Canada but he insists he does not want to be the face of Native American sports people.
"As of right now I have no aspirations to be the face of anything, or to be completely associated with anything like that," he added.
"I just want to help [Native American] youth as much as I can."
