Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:59:00 EST From: Billy Hamilton
Subject: Indian Giver Brian, I see what you are saying, but that
is not how I have always understood it. As I understand it,
"indian giver" refers to instances in which the white people
tricked Native Americans out of land, by various means. The
Indians often did not understand that they had given up that
land, but still thought it was theirs and attacked the white
settlers moving in. Thus, the white people got mad and said that
the Indians were going back on their deals, when in reality they
had been tricked and did not know it. Thus, "indian giver"
refers to someone who gives a person something and then wants it
back. I could be wrong, but that is how I understand it. It is a
term that angers the Native Americans I know and have
encountered, thus I feel that I have not been too far astray in
my understanding of the term. Billy Hamilton