An
indian giver is someone who expects that a
gift will be used and appreciated by the person who accepts it. Most
indian tribes considered the giving of gifts to be a
sacred thing. If a person accepted a
gift that they
did not like or would never use it was considered
disrespectful. It was an
insult to the giver and to the gift itself. It was also the
duty of the giver to
retrieve any present that was not truly
appreciated and respected, that was not received in the same
spirit that it was offered.
It was considered honorable and righteous to take back a gift, not cheap and greedy as most
european cultures seem to think.
Editor's Note: To the best of my knowledge, the above is incorrect. Reciprocity was/is a fundamental mode of exchange for the native american indians. When a gift was given, a gift (of approximately equal value) was expected in return. This is common in hunter/gatherer cultures the world round. When Europeans first observed this, it was misunderstood to mean the native expected his own gift returned.