Date:  Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:59:00 EST
From:  Billy Hamilton <wjhami01[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MOREHEAD-ST.EDU>
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