After embarking on a journey to discover his family's origins, Isaiah Washington was appointed chief of a Sierra Leone tribe. This suprising outcome is described in the actor's new memoir, A Man From Another Land. 

In an interview with the Today Show about the book, Washington explained what led to this.  "I did a DNA test back in 2005. Then [after getting the results], I decided, 'What am I going to do with this information?' I put a delegation together. I had an architect and a surgeon come, thinking I was going to go into [Sierra Leone] to help ... "[I was] thinking I was going to get in and maybe just have the African experience and come back and donate some basketballs and build some things. But no, the folklore [in this tribe] states that I would be a man from another land and I would help bring the country back to its original state."

Washington says he’s grateful to be bestowed with such a great honor.

(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)