Indian giver

Indian giver
For the 1910 Fruitgum Company song, see Indian Giver (song).
For the 1910 Fruitgum Company album of the same name, see Indian Giver (album).

Indian giver is an expression used mostly by European Americans to describe a person who gives a gift (literal or figurative) and later wants it back, or something equivalent in return. This expression misunderstands the concept of duality, reciprocity, balance that is part of the cosmovision of indigenous peoples all across the Americas.

The term "Indian gift" was first noted in 1765 by Thomas Hutchinson,[1] and "Indian giver" was first cited in John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1860)[2] as "Indian giver. When an Indian gives any thing, he expects to receive an equivalent, or to have his gift returned." Thus it was really an exchange of gifts and not a matter of selflessness.

Nevertheless, the phrase can be considered offensive,[3][4] particularly to American Indians.[5]

Etymology

It is unclear exactly how the expression came to be, but the consensus is that it is based on American Indians having a distinctly different sense of property ownership than that of European ancestry.[citation needed] One theory is that early European settlers in North America misinterpreted the aid and goods they received from local Indians as gifts, when in fact they were intended to be offered in trade. Many tribes operated economically by a form of barter system, or a gift economy, where reciprocal giving was practiced.[6]

Synonyms

Since the phrase was likely a cultural misunderstanding that unfortunately denigrates American Indians and no known English synonyms seem to exist, a group of freecyclers invented the new word "ersatzgiver" to replace it[7] (ersatz means "substitute" or "replacement" in German).[8]

Sources

  1. ^ [1], "An Indian gift is a proverbial expression, signifying a present for which an equivalent return is expected." (Thomas Hutchinson, "History of Massachusetts Bay," 2165).
  2. ^ [2], The OED's earliest citation for "Indian giver" is John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1860)
  3. ^ "indian giver - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indian%20giver. 
  4. ^ Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (2006). The American Heritage dictionary of the English language. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-70172-9. "Indian giver n. Offensive: One who gives something to another and then takes or demands it back." 
  5. ^ "Watch Your Mouth | Reconnecting the Circle". http://www.reconnectingthecircle.com/node/205. 
  6. ^ "Indian giver". http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/202850.html. 
  7. ^ "ersatzgiver". http://www.freecycleforever.org/ersatzgiver. Retrieved 20 March 2011. 
  8. ^ "ersatz". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ersatz. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 

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