Talk:Indian giver

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Italic textAre you sure this information is correct? I always thought that it referred to the U.S. Government which gave the Native Americans priveleges and then took them away. Thus they are "Indian Givers" as in, giving things to the "Indians" rather than "Indians who gave"

No, this is correct.--Srwm4 19:26, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Swrm4 is right; it refers to Natives giving and then taking back. Ironic, huh? Ungovernable Force^{Got something to say?} 10:47, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure that this phrase, and Indian summer, are related to the phenomenon that gives rise to English phrases like "French" leave and "Dutch" courage or "Dutch" treat. Using a local "foreign" culture to imply that something isn't actually what it is called; i.e. an Indian giver is actually a lender and Indian summer is actually fall. I'm pretty sure this was discussed by Safire or Newman in one of their books. Halfelven 11:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Maybe, although Indian Summer isn't just another term for fall, it describes a special kind of weather that occurs in fall. 69.95.237.27 (talk) 21:45, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

While I am only 1/8 Cherokee, in my family, if a gift or its giver are not being honored by the recepient, the gift is taken back -- especially if it's an animal or a daughter in marriage. Certainly this practice has been used as a racial slur even by those who probably did about the same thing with engagement rings, etc. 64.149.54.82 17:53, 9 February 2007 (UTC) positivelyparrots

I read somewhere that the reason the Indians took back the gifts was that the settlers did not reciprocate, as they were expected to do under the gift economy. Sarsaparilla (talk) 00:32, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reverted comment on article page

Can someone comment on pot-latching as it relates to Indian giving.. It seems to me that the Indians gave things to the settlers because they thought everyone believed in pot-latching which is an Indian ritual where they give something valuable to someone in their village expecting something valuable back. When the settlers did not reciprocate the Indian took things back because they did not understand that everyone didn';t beliueve in pot-latching. The US and Canadian governments eventually made pot-latching illegal for Indians.Mtwatson (talk) 00:09, 28 March 2008 (UTC)