Wikipedia
Indian giver is an American expression to describe a person who gives a gift and later wants it back, or something equivalent in return. It is based on the experiences of early European settlers and pioneers like Lewis and Clark when trading with Native Americans. It was custom among some groups of Native Americans that when a gift was given, something of equal value was given by the receiver of the gift. The custom of Native American gift giving was misinterpreted by early European settlers as shady business dealings.
Indian Giver, the fourth studio album by American bubblegum pop group the 1910 Fruitgum Company, was released in 1969. The title song written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, and Bo Gentry peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Special Delivery" went to #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went to 147 on the Billboard 200.
"Indian Giver" is a song written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, and Bo Gentry and was recorded by 1910 Fruitgum Company for their 1969 album, Indian Giver. The song went to #5 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and was on the charts for 13 weeks. It's B-Side, "Pow Wow" was actually a song called "Bring Back Howdy Doody" deliberately pressed backwards as a way of deterring radio stations from playing the B-Side, which was later recorded by another Buddah bubblegum music group produced by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz called Flying Giraffe.
The song went to #1 in South Africa, #3 in Canada and #4 in Australia. It was named the #50 song of 1969 on the Cashbox charts. The song was certified as a gold disc in March 1969.