In the book Playing Indian, Deloria, author of the book, discusses how Americans have ambivalent opinions toward Indians. People wore their custom in part to show their protest against the British government, and Americans also seek to achieve and obtain certain Indian values like freedom. In the meantime, Americans also committed crimes against Indians in the 19thcentury and, even today, still dislike the savage elements within Indians. The author proposed two possible situations at the beginning of the book: inclusion or destruction. When connecting these ideas to the overarching theme of American identity, it actually seems apt for inclusion to be the solution. One of the core values of the United States is the notion of a melting pot. Although it was first, and still predominantly used to describe European immigrants, because of them being white, to be “melted” as Americans, it can also reflect the “melting” of culture within the American society, and in the same time assimilating those who innately possess such culture (in this case they are Indians who possess their own characteristics, good and bad, noble and savage). The issue of the savage elements is the crux of the issue of whether inclusion of Indian characters is desirable. It was said by the author that people in the United States did not want such values of savage to be mainstream in the society, if not to even exist. There are, however, alternatives to the issue. Take the example of African American culture: there are certainly parts of the black culture that are more desirable than others, and Americans are, in fact, solving this problem. While their musical and artistic culture is included, elements like crime and violence that often do exist among black people are, instead of being excluded or even having the race destroyed, is actually being “melted down and flushed away” through education. The government has in fact been working on this issue by encouraging more and more black teenagers who either couldn’t afford or didn’t understand the necessity of education to seek higher education. Such efforts can be incorporated in efforts to include Indian cultures within the American culture. This, therefore, possibly opens up the inclusion way of solving this issue without having the exclusion of racial groups in any form.