In “Introduction to Playing Indian” by Philip Deloria, he explores the complicated relationship between the American identity and the effect that its had on Native Americans. Americans have tried for many years to define the country’s identity as one of a singular ideology. One that is completely American. Native Americans have tried for many years to fit into this identity but have been denied the opportunity because of the fact that they are seen as “others.” The first real situation in which the Native Americans were presented in a savage way was at the Boston Tea Party. People participating in the Boston Tea Party dressed up as Native Americans and poured the tea into the harbor in protest of the tariff that had been implemented by the British. D.H. Lawrence stated in Studies in Classic American Literature that, “Americans had an awkward tendency to define themselves by what they were not. They had failed to produce a positive identity that stood on its own. Second, Americans…had been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of…wanting to savor both civilized order and savage freedom at the same time.” (pg. 3) This idea and thought led to many Americans to attempt to associate native Americans in their own separate culture based upon this false identification that was put upon them.

Even with this total negative stereotype that was thrust upon the Native Americans, many people in America had two different ideas about the Native American culture. Deloria outlines this double-sided idea of Native Americans in his article. He says that Americans have “the desire to extirpate while simultaneously the desire to glorify him.” (pg. 4) Due to this double ideology and way of viewing Native Americans as a part of the American culture many people have forced the Native Americans to abandon their homes and native lands and move to reservations. This idea of wanting to get rid of Native Americans while also trying to integrate them into the American culture still exists to this day, also.

This double vision of what Native Americans were and whether they deserved to be apart of the American culture stemmed from the Boston Tea Party and the hypocritical thinking that Native Americans were what many people decided they didn’t want to be (“savages”) but they also embodied the very freedom that early-America was trying to instill in its people and its culture. This meant that the Native Americans had influenced the American culture but were still not necessarily given the right to be a part of the American culture when these were the very people that had been on these lands long before even the earliest white settlers from Europe. This is something that became a large problem for this country and is still effecting the country today. Like I stated above, Native Americans nowadays are forced onto reservations instead of being able to live on the lands they discovered and rightfully called their home. Native American children also aren’t able to receive the kind of schooling that the average American gets because of the negative bias shown towards their culture and way of life. When America was first settled, the Native Americans were seen as the “others” of the American culture and unfortunately this idea is still somewhat prominent even in today’s American culture built upon the idea of freedom and acceptance.

In Philip Deloria’s “Introduction” to Playing Indian, his argument states that many Euro-Americans wanted to feel the same closeness that Native Americans felt with the American continent, but were unable to accomplish this desire due to the affinity they had against all things that Native Americans stood for. Deloria writes, “Whereas Euro-Americans had imprisoned themselves in the logical mind and the social order, Indians represented instinct and freedom. They spoke for the “spirit of the continent.” Whites desperately desired that spirit, yet they invariably failed to become aboriginal and thus “finished.” Savage Indians served Americans as oppositional figures against whom one might imagine a civilized national Self. Coded as freedom, however, wild Indianness proved equally attractive, setting up a “have-the-cake-and-eat-it-too” dialectic of simultaneous desire and repulsion,” (3). Deloria is arguing that Euro-Americans saw all that Native Americans stood for and wanted to feel the connections to the country, specifically the land, that the Natives felt themselves. This, however, was a complicated relationship as Euro-Americans were, at the same time, disgusted with the “uncivilized” nature that Native Americans possessed.

Deloria also states that the relationship that Euro-Americans have had with Native Americans is a very complicated one. When analyzing this relationship, I very much agree that it is very complex and difficult to read. With Deloria stating that Euro-Americans have always admired the relationship that Natives have had with the land and the continent that is America, it is still somewhat shocking to me how much disgust was harbored towards the Native Americans as people. Deloria illustrates just how big this rift is between the two different emotions towards Native Americans when he states, “American’s wanted to feel a natural affinity with the continent, and it was Indians who could teach them such aboriginal closeness. Yet, in order to control the landscape they had to destroy the original inhabitants. Lawrence say the problem demonstrated most clearly in the writings of Crèvecoeur: “[Crèvecoeur] wanted his ideal state. At the same time, he wanted to know the other state, the dark, savage mind. He wanted both. Can’t be done Hector. The one is the death of the other,” (5). With Deloria quoting Crèvecoeur, he states that many Euro-Americans wanted to have two different relationships with the Natives. The first relationship being one filled with teaching and learning. The Euro-Americans wanted to learn all about closeness that the Native Americans felt towards the continent and the land. While the Euro-Americans desired this relationship, they also wanted to understand the “dark, savage mind” of the Natives, which was looked at with disgust by most Euro-Americans.

Euro-Americans were always faced with the “absolute decision: extermination or inclusion,” (4). In my opinion, I agree that this relationship between Euro-Americans and Native Americans has been, and always will be, and complicated one. While White Americans have always had such a strong affliction towards the Native community, it is shocking for me to see how many people still “play Indian.” There are so many pop culture references and examples of non-Native people appropriating Native American dress. Some well known celebrities who have been accused of appropriation of the Native American culture have been Khloe Kardashian and Alessandra Ambrosio. While people are starting to call out others for this appropriation, there are still many examples of people that do this. People still dress up as “Indians” for Halloween or wear headdresses to major music festivals, such as Coachella. While this relationship, between white Americans and Native Americans, is starting to become less complicated, with many white Americans starting to recognize their “dress-up” as what it actually is, appropriation, there are still many strides to be made in making sure that people stop “appreciating” Native culture is an ignorant, and sometimes hateful, way. 

“Benjamin [Franklin] knew that the breaking of the old world was a long process. In the depths of his own under-consciousness he hated England, he hated Europe, he hated the whole corpus of the European being. He wanted to be American. But you can’t change your nature and mode of consciousness like changing your shoes. It is a gradual shedding. Years must go by and centuries must elapse before you have finished. It is a long and half-secret process.” (page 1) In this passage the author argues that even if one hates where he or she was coming from there is no way for them to get rid of that identity from them. Because since you were born in that place or grew up in that place or your parents are from that place, you just can not take that away from your identity because that is permanent. I agree with his point. I have this friend; he is Chinese American born in the US. Both of his parents are from China, they came here for school and then stayed here for work. I know he hates his Chinese identity and he just wants to be white so bad. But its impossible to get rid of the Chinese-ness from his blood. Unless he gets a cosmetic surgery to change his face to look exactly like a white person and disown his Chinese parents and then delete all the Chinese virtue that his parents have taught him then maybe he could have a chance to be white but other wise no way.

“Race has, of course, been a characteristic American obsession-and the racial imagination has been at work on many different groups of people, Indians included. But Americans-particularly white Americans have been similarly fixated on defining themselves as a nation.” (page 5) In this passage the author argues that white Americans formed a nation or community for white Americans only for themselves. I think this statement is partly true but too conceptual and it does not really apply to real life. The argument saying that white American formed an exclusive club for themselves could be true when you look as the CEOS of the fortune 500 companies. Most of them are white males. But it is not true when it applies to, for example, sports. Most of the NBA players are black. So I don’t see the point of forming such community since data also shows that companies with a more diverse background would be more likely to gain more revenue than those that are not very diverse. Maybe the author is referring to the age that he was in where multi-ethnicity is not acceptable in the American society. In an episode of Dr. Phil, a 16 year-old African American girl claiming that she is not black but white and she is better than other black people. This is an extreme story when someone is really trying to be white. Its impossible to imagine someone wants to reject their undeniable identity.

            In Playing Indians Philip Deloria demonstrates how Americans attempt to use Native Americans as a way to define their national identity. Deloria claims that, “Savage Indians served Americans as oppositional figures against whom one might imagine a civilized national Self. Coded as freedom, however, wild Indianness proved equally attractive, setting up a “have-the-cake-and-eat-it-too” dialectic of simultaneous desire and repulsion” (3). So, Native Americans helped define national identity in the sense that they provided an example of what Americans did not want to be to be; however, they also provided a source of confusion because they also exhibited the freedom that America hoped to embody. Deloria explains how “playing Indian is a persistent tradition in American culture, stretching from the very instant of the national big bang into an ever-expanding present and future” (7). The juxtaposition in how to view Native Americans is shown in how Americans forced assimilation onto the Native Americans, yet dress in Native American clothing and continually appropriates their culture.

            I completely agree with Deloria’s ideas concerning the part that Native Americans play in defining national identity. Too often, Americans look to “others” in an attempt to define themselves. Instead of merely creating a national identity, Americans try first to look at what they do not want to be. Since the beginning of the United States as a nation, “white Americans molded similar narratives of national identity around the rejection of an older European consciousness” (Deloria 2). Even when the United State first became independent, they sought to define themselves through the rejection of another culture. Although there were parts of Native American culture that Americans admired, they still viewed the Native Americans as savages and as an example of what they did not want to be.

            The second things that Deloria asserts concerning Native Americans and American identity is the two juxtaposing ways that Americans view Native Americans. On the one hand, they have “the desire to extirpate [Native Americans]” while simultaneously the “desire to glorify him” (Deloria 4). Native Americans were forced into assimilating into American culture. Furthermore, they were forced to live on reservation and abandon their homes. There was, and to a certain extent still today, the idea that, “white Americans needed either to destroy Indians or to assimilate them into a white American world” (Deloria 4). Today many schools do not teach about Native American history, despite them being the first people to live and settle in America. The ways in which American culture suppresses Native American culture are numerous, but we still appropriate their culture. Every Halloween I see at least one person dressed as a Native American, yet too few people in the United States have a comprehensive understanding of Native American culture and the horrors that they faced. Just in Ohio there are the Cleveland Indians and many high schools who use offensive mascots. Overall, I think there needs to be a line drawn between what can be considered appreciation of a culture and appropriation of a culture, especially when horrific acts have been performed against the culture in question.

In the “Introduction” chapter to Philip Deloria’s Playing Indian, he focuses on the complex love-hate relationship between American identity and Native Americans. Throughout our history, Americans have viewed Native Americans in two ways. They were seen as either savages in need of civilization, or as free spirits, looked upon with admiration. This two-sided view of Native Americans is what Deloria refers to as “noble savagery.” Deloria explains that noble savagery is “a term that both juxtaposes and conflates an urge to idealize and desire Indians and a need to despise and dispossess them” (Deloria 4). In this quote, Deloria simplifies the relationship that Native Americans have had with American identity since before the inception of the United States.

Deloria uses the story of the Boston Tea Party to exemplify this relationship. The perpetrators of the Boston Tea Party disguised themselves as Native Americans before throwing the tea into the harbor, but this is only one instance of what Deloria calls “Indian play.” According to Deloria, playing Indian has been centered “around two paradigmatic moments – the Revolution, which rested on the creation of a national identity, and modernity, which has used Indian play to encounter the authentic amidst the anxiety of urban industrial and postindustrial life” (Deloria 7). In other words, Deloria is stating that Indian play has been an integral part of both historical and contemporary American identity. Deloria also makes the point of D. H. Lawrence that the American government, historically, had been ricocheting between either assimilating or eliminating the Native Americans. Deloria asserts “in order to meet ‘the demon of the continent’ head on and thus finalize the ‘unexpressed spirit of America,’ white Americans needed either to destroy Indians or to assimilate them into a white American world” (Deloria 4). In this statement, Deloria is explaining D. H. Lawrence’s view on the historical perception of Native Americans.

I believe that Deloria is correct on the topic of the two-sided perception of Native Americans. Historically, Americans viewed the Native Americans as uncivilized savages, and carried out many heinous acts towards them. But, alternatively, Americans also saw some virtues in Native Americans that they admired, such as personal freedom and authenticity. I think that this admiration is one of the reasons for the important and central role that Native Americans play in our national identity. There are still examples of this role seen today, such as the usage of Native American sports mascots. Examples include the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins.

Nowadays, it seems as though the perception of Native Americans has changed drastically, and hopefully will continue to do so. I think that the view of Native Americans as savage, wild, and uncivilized is a dying one in modern American culture. People are much more progressive and open-minded now than in the past, and this can be seen in modern media, politics, and social movements. For example, the mascot of the Cleveland Indians, Chief Wahoo, was retired in 2018 after numerous protests claiming that the mascot was offensive. Native Americans are still very influential in our culture, but, fortunately, public view of Native Americans is becoming more and more progressive as we move away from the two-sided perception of Native Americans in the past.

In the introduction of Playing Indians, the author Philip Deloria starts with an iconic description of the famous Boston Tea Party. His words are very concentrated on the choice made by the Americans to disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians in order to start the rebellion. Furthermore, the text is focused on the American Identity. More precisely, where it came from and how it has been transformed and used over time.

I personally found the analysis of the American man made by Deloria at page 3 very interesting. It states, “Americans had an awkward tendency to define themselves by what they were not”. This was written in 1998 and we can definitely see how this quote has been referred not only to the Boston Tea Party episode, but to an entire history of discrimination, slavery and racism brought on for centuries even after such a wonderful act as the Declaration Of Independence. in fact, all those values taught admirably by the Declaration Of Independence highlighted only the bright side of the American Identity while on the other hand, a world full of hate and inequality was silently taking over.

One of the most interesting questions suggested by the author about “playing Indians” during the Boston Tea Party is: “What is the connection between the Indian and American identity?” My answer is complicated, but I’ll start by agreeing with D.H. Lawrence’s view of the American soul. “There has been all the time, in the white American soul, a dual feeling about the Indian, the desire to extirpate [him], and the contradictory desire to glorify him” (Deloria 4). I think that as human beings, we naturally tend to form groups, share instinct and behave similarly, but at the same time we can’t avoid the attraction for what we are completely different from. Let me say that the Mohawk Indian disguise and costumes used by the Americans to start the Boston Tea Party were nothing less then truthful admiration for the Native Americans behavior. A way to escape from the old traditional values joining a new much more exciting character. Americans and Native Americans were enemies regardless of their nature. Once you own something and someone else tries to take it away from you, there is nothing you can do to avoid conflict. Lawrence points it out in another beautiful quote of Deloria’s text: “No place exerts it’s full influence upon a newcomer until the old inhabitants is dead or absorbed.” And to conclude my answer to the identity dilemma, I want to add a little piece to Lawrence’s quote. No absorption comes without a change in identity. Despite the fact that Americans won and Native Americans have been “absorbed” over time, there will always be a piece of the Americans’ souls belonging to the Indians’ free spirit and perhaps, that part of soul came out in the Boston Tea Party.

The American white man is not as far from the savagery of the Native Americans as he thinks. At the end of the day we are all humans with a similar brain. We think we are how we are just because we have never seen or interacted with anything different. Once it happens though, there is nothing that can be done, our identity has changed forever and even if we don’t recognize it we can’t get rid of it.

In Philip Deloria’s “Introduction” to Playing Indian, it is quite obvious that America has struggled with identity for years now, which in turn as had a monumental effect on the Native Americans. The Europeans wanted the same freedom that the Native Americans had in this new found America, Hence why America was an asylum to get away from prejudice. What they also wanted though was the social order that was prevalent back in Europe. This reminds me a lot of our second journal. America at one point was set on assimilating the Native Americans into a typical American life or exterminating them when they would not cooperate. After many years I think it has become obvious just how important the Native Americans have been to helping assert the American identity we spent so long trying to find. D.H Lawrence explains it in best way possible when he states “There has been all the time, in the white American soul, a dual feeling about the Indian…The desire to extirpate [him]. And the contradictory desire to glorify him.” It is evident from this passage that White Americans look at the Native Americans as a threat to the American culture, but at the same time admire and respect the values and ways of their  freedom. Americans have gone back and forth for years between wanting to be like the Native Americans and resenting them as well. D.H Lawrence dives a bit deeper when he states that ‘Americans been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of “wanting to have their cake and eat it too”. We have been stuck between wanting to put the savagery of the Native Americans to rest and bringing them into a life of order wanting to savor and hold onto the freedom at the same time.

I have to admit I do agree with Philip Deloria in the sense that we as Americans have lived quite a clashing life. Native Americans are still part of the American culture today as they are still prominent in society. Americans tend to still treat Native Americans with little to no respect and look at them as less than. It is baffling to me that Europeans wanted to bring in parts of the Native American values into American life but would somehow still not let Native Americans identity as American nor be welcomed into the communities unless they assimilated to the “American” culture that they initially brought over. Examples of how just influential the Native American culture and lifestyle is today are that I myself own a couple of blankets that are Native American style  as well as snow boots and furry jackets that are also. I used to have a dream catcher above my bed when I was younger and I still wear my moccasins today. It is obvious that that the Native American culture is a big part of not only our history but of our lives. We should no longer look at Native American as separate entities from American society and we should no longer ignore the history of Native Americans but embrace and welcome it.

In the introduction to his book ‘Playing Indian’, Deloria attempts to unpack what he describes as a contradictory relationship white Americans have with Native culture. He talks about how Indian traditions have long been intertwined in how Americans formed their identity as they both contrast themselves against the ‘savagery’ of the Indians as well use their symbols to embody the freedom that the Indians possess. This is succinctly phrased when the author quotes D.H. Lawrence as he writes “Americans (and he did not hesitate to generalize) had been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of “wanting to have their cake and eat it too,” of wanting to savor both civilized order and savage freedom at the same time.” (page 3) The author paints the picture of new Americans who are desperate to remove themselves from the Europeans and define a new identity for themselves. In these efforts, they find themselves in a sea of ambiguity and contradiction often “[defining] themselves by what they were not.” (page 3) Deloria also talks about other factors that defined the American-Indian relationship such as the Americans’ need to connect with their new land which they feel can only be accomplished through the erasure of Native Americans, and this of course only adds to the contradiction.

Reading Deloria’s chapter, I feel like the claims that he makes fit into the characteristics of the America we see today. I see this most prevalent in the contradictory relationship that is cleverly described in his chapter as he again quotes Lawrence when depicting the attitude Americans had towards native people; “The desire to extirpate[him]. And the contradictory desire to glorify him.” (page 4). It feels like an echo of how Americans deal today with foreign cultures, especially the ones that have been deemed public enemy. Even as Muslims and Middle Easterns are labeled as terrorists, Henna tattoos become all the rage and Jasmine is every girls’ favorite Disney princess. While our government is its longest shutdown in its history over a wall bordering Mexico, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo and order in from our favorite Tex-Mex place. In fact, that adds insult to injury when discussing appropriated culture; it often belongs to people who have had to fight against it being stripped from them.

One can see history repeats itself again, as Deloria describes how Native Americans reacted to white Americans ‘playing Indian’. He writes “native people have been present at the margins, insinuating their way into Euro-American discourse, often attempting to nudge notions of Indianness in directions they found useful.” (page 8). Minorities today readily and happily package bits of their culture into consumable boxes for all those who are interested. Henna parties that last hours into the night, rich in tradition and celebration are now reduced to five minute affairs at a random vendor. These commodities, now bare of their depth and background, only hold the function of entertainment or escape. They symbolize an exotic other, a foreign experience, or a break of routine. Minorities participate in this because it makes them approachable and encourages others to make more of an effort to understand them. The rationale is; maybe if my neighbors like my kebabs enough they’ll be more likely to condemn movements, legislations, or institutions that systematically discriminate against me and my people.

In many ways, America still seems like the adolescent that is so eager to rebel and prove itself to not be what its Old-World parent was. She is still in the process of understanding her complexity, and reconciling herself with the contradictions that she holds within her. America was so focused on how it’s not like Europe that it forgot to consider what it was going to be instead. Therefore, it makes sense that she sometimes latches on to whatever culture she encounters, both breaking it apart and in awe of what it is. And then she takes the shiny parts and adds it to her fabric and discarding the rest.

            In this piece by Phillip Deloria, he begins by telling the story of the Boston Tea Party, an event that changed public opinion of the Native Americans and their culture. The Boston Tea Party took place after foreign tea was prohibited from being offloaded from the ships waiting at the port, and in response a group of men dressed as Indians stormed the ships and dumped all the tea into the harbor. Deloria claims that this began a rich history of Americans using Indian dress and culture to define themselves. Americans had been battling a dilemma, kill the Indians or force them to assimilate to the new society. Neither happened, instead, many Indian practices were brought into the American society. Deloria’s piece outlines many reasons and examples for why this took place in the growth of America and why we bring Indian culture into our lives.

The ideal American, or characteristics of an ideal American are so vague and there is nothing that definitively separates Americans from others. We may share things in common, but I don’t feel that we have a set of defining characteristics that make us American. Deloria writes about how Americans have been attempting to define themselves as a unique people.  Deloria claims that, “costume and disguise—especially when associated with holidays, rituals, or concealing the dark—can have extraordinary transformative qualities” (Deloria p.6). This quote reaffirms the idea that the men disguised as Indians set a precedent for others to display Indian dress. The costumes gave the men a false sense of reality, as they needed the disguises to legitimize what they were doing. The wearing of Indian clothing has been a sign of the effect the Indians had on the newly colonized United States.

            Deloria continues to cite examples where Americans use Indian ideas and practices as their own. He describes a common situation where “at the turn of the twentieth century, the thoroughly modern children of angst-ridden upper- and middle-class parents wore feathers and slept in tipis and wigwams at camps with multisyllabic names” (Deloria p.7). This observation demonstrates that Indian culture and tradition had an impact on the American lifestyle. The people who were making decisions in America sent their kids to a place that openly utilized Indian practices. Deloria makes the point that if they are you using all these aspects of Indian life it would be quite hard to discredit the active role the Indians had in the growth of America

I was a boy scout for many years and have slept in many Native American structures. Many of our ceremonies required men to dress in Indian attire and recite Indian teachings in the native tongue. Had we not adopted Indian practices, I know for a fact that scouting would not be the same as it is today. I think this speaks to the fact that even today we rely on Indian practices and culture to fill our voids as a people.

 The adoption of Indian ideas and cultures started with The Boston Tea Party and continues today. America is an ever growing/changing county and the Indians ways have and will continue to have a role in our countries’ identity.

In Philip Deloria’s “Introduction” to Playing Indian, he discusses how, for years, Americans have struggled with their identity and this has, in turn, had a great effect on Native Americans to this day. America as a whole is determined to define itself as a nation, leading to the creation of a singular American identity. Either one fits into this identity, or they are seen as an Other. Native Americans for the longest time have struggled to relate to this identity since living on the land did not necessarily make them feel more American. On top of that, they could never earn the acceptance of the first settlers. Instead, they posed a threat to American identity since, according to D. H. Lawrence, “Indians represented instinct and freedom. They spoke for the “spirit of the continent,” (pg. 3). This was a threat to American identity since, Lawrence asserts, “Whites desperately desired that spirit, yet they invariably failed,” (pg. 3). Because of this, their “savagery” seemed to threaten the civility settlers assumed they possessed. This dilemma began with the Boston tea party where raiders dressed up as Indians poured tea into the Boston Harbor. Despite the negative light Native Americans were presented in this story, Deloria suggests that since it “define[d] and claim[ed] American identity, the Boston Tea Party became thoroughly entrenched as a key origin story,” (pg. 2). Lawrence suggests in his writing, Studies in Classic American Literature, that this is due to the fact that “Americans had an awkward tendency to define themselves by what they were not. They had failed to produce a positive identity that stood on its own. Second, Americans…had been continually haunted by the fatal dilemma of… wanting to savor both civilized order and savage freedom at the same time,” (pg. 3). This idea in turn lead to white Americans feeling the need to destroy Native Americans or proceed to assimilate them into their own American culture – which ended up being just another means of destruction. I agree with Deloria’s point that  “noble savagery, a term that both juxtaposes and conflates an urge to idealize and desire Indians and a need to despise and dispos[e] them,” (pg. 4) is still ingrained in American culture today. This is evident in recent events involving the Dakota access pipeline where a means of collecting oil went through an Indian reservation. This is a modern day example of the disrespect Native Americans still face and the way their livelihood continues to be destroyed. Since their culture isn’t considered part of American culture, people find it easier to ignore it and do whatever is the most convenient for them. In this case, this involved placing a pipeline directly through one of the very few areas of land that is reserved for Native Americans. Another less specific example is the fact that despite Native Americans being on this land first, what they have left of it is just a couple of reserves that they stay in the bounds of. Their voices do not get heard and they face similar disrespect their ancestors faced. Despite it being 2019, their culture is still appropriated in the form of costumes, and after all they’ve been through people can’t find it in their hearts to treat sacreedly what little Native Americans have left of their culture.