First America: Playing Indian

We’re back with Episode 2 of First America, a new show by Indigenous author Rebecca Nagle about how the United States really came to be and how we got to today’s present moment. Rebecca and historian Phil Deloria (Dakota descent) head to Boston to try to understand Americans’ obsession with playing Indian. In the early republic, pretending to be Indian symbolized freedom and helped the colonists form a new, national identity. From Boy Scouts to new agers and sports fans, the American tradition of White people dressing up like Natives never went away. Find First America wherever you get podcasts.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices