Indian Sign Meaning

(idiomatic, dated, mildly offensive) A curse causing loss of will power or persistent bad luck.

Example: 1913, P. G. Wodehouse, The Little Nugget, ch. 12:
  "You certainly are my jinx, sonny. You have hung the Indian sign on me all right."
1921, Arthur B. Reeve, The Film Mystery, ch. 6:
  "We have been jinxed with a vengeance. Some one has held the Indian sign on us for sure."
1947, Dark Passage (motion picture), Warner Brothers:
  Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart): Nah, I've got the Indian sign on me. It seems I can't win.
1996, Mario Puzo, The Last Don, ISBN 9780345412218, p. 83 (Google preview):
  "You're the only woman who ever had the Indian sign on me. I married late and I know I'll never marry again."