The discussion is critical of this identity play, and by pointing to the specific ways in which Native Americans were othered rather than treated as human beings aligns with Ira Hayes’s narrative in a war-stricken America. Deloria also explains how the use of Native American identity appealed to colonists who wanted to change aspects of their country because of “the freedom, naturalness, and individualism of the native custom” (Deloria, 26). In this way, the identity play that Deloria discusses is actually a reflection on white Americans themselves, and less on the ideals of Native Americans that the colonists
The discussion is critical of this identity play, and by pointing to the specific ways in which Native Americans were othered rather than treated as human beings aligns with Ira Hayes’s narrative in a war-stricken America. Deloria also explains how the use of Native American identity appealed to colonists who wanted to change aspects of their country because of “the freedom, naturalness, and individualism of the native custom” (Deloria, 26). In this way, the identity play that Deloria discusses is actually a reflection on white Americans themselves, and less on the ideals of Native Americans that the colonists