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First America: Playing Indian episode artwork

Jul 22, 2026 45 min

First America: Playing Indian

from Scene on Radio Hosted by Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University

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

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First America: Playing Indian

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This episode was published on July 22, 2026.

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