THE CAT'S PAJAMAS LIV

Tad Tuleja 

 

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

 

INDIAN GIVER

 

An Indian giver is a person who presents a gift only to request it back. In spite of the term's implication, it was not the American Indians who initiated this practice. In fact, the taking back of a gift in traditional Indian culture would have been unthinkable. Not so, of course, among white men, who considered it entirely acceptable to offer a treaty in January and disavow it in June. The original Indian givers, then, were those who gave things to the Indians - blankets, reservations, their word - and then retracted them at a later date. A cruel development in language has conveniently obscured the true meaning of this expression.