oops, I did it again

Well, not really. But is a random brittany reference ever really a bad thing? (hint: yes) . As I was tooling around the information superhighway, I got a flat tire and stopped in to a service station for a fresh airing up of my wheels.
As I was reading the comments on the virtual bathroom wall (and no, that does not mean you can leave your "for a good time, call ... posts in my comment section), I came across a fun little discussion on racist origins of words. And this, of course, was followed by the classic stereotype wisecracks which were immediately followed by "Of course, you all know I don't have a racist bone in my body" defense.
My favorite, though, was the "Indian giver" crack. I had forgotten that particular gem. I will cop to having used that phrase quite a bit growing up, although since I have grown older and, if not wiser, I have ceased using it after recognizing it for what it is.
Seeing it again got me to thinking. Naturally, a discussion of the phrase will be part of Dreamcatchers before all is said and done, but meanwhile I will do some free associating. Have you ever wondered at the origin of this phrase?
Many, though not all, of course, Native American societies wer extremely generous and giving. What was mine was yours and what was yours was mine, take as you have need. Food and clothing were regularly given to those in need with no thought of what would be gotten back in return.
In fact, some societies had the (later outlawed as Communistic) potlatches in which extra goods were given to other members of the community. This was completely voluntary.
Entonces, the doctrine of Manifest Destiny saw the various tribes "give" their lands to the government, although those lands were frequently "taken" (read stolen through various illegal actions, subterfuges, deceptions, etc.) from their unwilling (and frequently dead) hands. Whenever worthless land set aside "as long as the grass shall grow and the rivers run" was found to be not as worthless as previously believed since it had gold or oil or farmland, the Native Americans chose to again "give" land to the people taking it.
And they seldom got it back, even when the Supreme Court said it was to go back. Always remember, kids, how fortunate you are if you were born white, because you have legal standing and some faint hope of "justice" before the courts, something not true if your pigment was mixed wrong.
The point of this rambling dissertation on subjects varied and vageuly interconnected is simple; how did the phrase "Indian giver" start? Clearly it is racial; "I am going to give you something and then take it back.", thus indicating the "Indiand" is untrustworthy and his gifts might be seized back at any time.
Even a cursory study of history shows the reverse to be true. The U.S. government repeatedly wrote into treaties annuities in perpetuity which are not being and have not been paid, stipends, assitance, programs, land, freedoms, and other treaty promises. Interestingly enough, one tribe still honors (and rather sarcastically, I might add) their obligation of a couple goats per year. Good to see the dishonest, treacherous Indians can't keep their word as well as the government of the honest, integrity filled, upright U.S. government.
I guess the real meaning of Indian giving is to give something worthless and unwanted to someone whom is poor and needy until such time as you find value for it, at which time feel free to take it back. After all, they are only an Indian.


(note; if some of this seems bitter and angry...well, you all know me, and it is)