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Jessica Simpson: Indian Giver Remark Sparks Controversy
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by Jon Azpiri | August 2, 2009 at 01:28 pm
639 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment
Pop star Jessica Simpson may have put her foot in her mouth when she talked about her recent break-up with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Simpson gave Romo a boat for his birthday earlier this year. When TMZ asked the pop star if she demanded that the boat be returned after the break-up, Simpson replied, "I'm not an Indian giver."
So what does "Indian Giver" mean? The term refers to someone who gives a gift and then takes it back and is widely seen as offensive to Native-Americans. The origin of "Indian Giver" isn't entirely certain.
It is unclear exactly how this expression came to be, but the consensus is that it is based on Native Americans having a distinctly different sense of property ownership as opposed to those of European ancestry. One theory holds that early European settlers in North America misinterpreted aid and goods they received from Native Americans as "gifts," when in fact they were intended to be offered in trade, as many tribes operated economically by some form of barter system, or a gift economy where reciprocal giving was practiced. It is also theorized that this stereotype may have been coined or exaggerated by the conquering European groups to denigrate the native people as dishonest and thereby justify their conquest
Jacqueline L. Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, sees Simpson's use of the term "Indian Giver" as a teaching opportunity.
"Most people flippantly use the comment 'Indian giver' without realizing its true meaning, Pata tells Us.
Pata says Simpson's latest gaffe could be "a good chance to educate people not to stereotype Native Americans by using a comment this is both incorrect in the way most people use it, and culturally insensitive to Native people."
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at 20:31 on October 8th, 2009
How is this in ANY way offensive to Native Americans? That's utterly ridiculous and brought to light by people in the media who are ignorant to American History. An "Indian Giver" would be exactly what Jessica would be if she took back the boat. The term refers to the WHITE man for renegging on just about every treaty he ever sat down and signed with Native Americans. In other words, the term is offensive to WHITES, not Native Americans. Get a grip people and go crack open a history book. You obviously weren't paying attention in class. Another aspect to this ridiculous claim is these same ignorant people don't even realize that Jessica IS of Native American Heritage. So are a lot of us, me included. And please, DO NOT quote wikipedia. You don't actually think that's gospel do you? You might wanna do a little homework about wikipedia my friend.