towonderland72:

pumpkinskull:

chubey:

hey guys friendly reminder from your fave Canadian that esk*mo is a slur so please don’t use it!

I see it usually in the context of “esk*mo kisses” which may pop up when people talk about their ships and their headcanon, but it means “snow eaters” in cree and is a slur against Inuit people so please just don’t use it!

and I would appreciate if u reblogged this because people outside Canada don’t seem to know this for the most part

This post is well-intentioned but not 100% accurate.

“Eskimo” is/was broadly used to refer to certain native peoples in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. Most, but not all of those groups find it offensive. In fact, “Inuit” is not considered an acceptable replacement term for all of these peoples. Here’s the breakdown:

• Greenlandic Inuit (Kalaallit) consider Eskimo a slur.
• Canadian Inuit (Innuinaq, Inuvialuit, and others) consider Eskimo a slur.
• Alaskan Inuit (Iñupiat) do not consider Eskimo a slur.
• Alaskan and Siberian Yupik people are not Inuit, and do not consider Eskimo a slur.
• Together, Native Alaskan Iñupiat and Yupik can be called Eskimo. 
• I’m not sure if “Inuit” is considered offensive to Yupik peoples, but it is at the very least inaccurate.
• There is another related group, the Aleut or Unangax peoples, who are neither Eskimo nor Inuit.

Also, the provided etymology is incorrect. There are a few different proposed etymologies for “Eskimo,” none of which are 100% agreed on, but “snow eater” is not one of them. The etymology most closely linked to the word’s slur status is “raw meat eater.” Other proposed etymologies are “snowshoe netter” or “speakers of a different language.” 

tl;dr OP is correct that you should never use Eskimo to refer to Inuit in Canada and Greenland, but it is acceptable to use for Alaskan Inuit (Iñupiaq) people and for Yupik people. The safest all-encompassing term would be Inuit and Yupik (and Aleut, if applicable).

(If you are more familiar with Alaskan Native people than me and disagree with my sources, please do correct me. For now though, I believe this to be accurate.)

I’m currently working on an Encylopedia of Indian Nations, and this is correct. Eskimo isn’t universally a slur. Canada may have adopted Inuit as an official replacement, but the OP seems to assume that the Canadian view applies to all native peoples. Sure, in Canada it’s contentious–stemming from both this single etymological reading and possibly also the fact that Canada used to make Inuit people wear “Eskimo tags” labelling them with the word ‘ESKIMO’ and ID numbers because that seemed easier than pronouncing actual tribal names. BUT. And this is a big but. Not all Alaskan native people share this history, and would object to a blanket label of Inuit, because Inuit refers to a language family and a distinct group. The Yupik, for example, do not consider themselves to be Inuit, and they don’t speak an Inuit language. 

This might be a useful source (and more accessible than the books I’ve been reading), if anyone is interested.