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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 107.77.205.122 (talk) at 02:34, 29 June 2019 (→‎The Sirenik: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Why is "Eskimo" offensive?

Why is Eskimo considered offensive just because it is supposedly derived "from eaters of raw meat"? They do eat raw meat, don't they? What's wrong with that?

Probably because most people do not eat raw meat. 202.123.130.53 (talk) 06:26, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Steak tartar, anyone? Sashimi? Raw oysters? Raw meat is a common delicacy in Western culture (and consumed in many other cultures). But the origins of a word don't matter in the least, lots of ethnic slurs have perfectly inoffensive meanings. "Nigger" just means "black", but "nigger" is extremely offensive and "black" is not. People decide something is offensive because of context, other people use it to deliberately be offensive (or vice versa), and off you go. There are far stupider examples - I've seen people take offense at *transliterations*. 70.75.233.253 (talk) 06:51, 10 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not all Northern Natives are Eskimos. Alaska has Eskimos who self-identify as such. But you would never call the Culturally distinct Inuit or Innu in Labrador Eskimo, that shows ignorance and lack of respect for their customs and language. ;Rmm553 September 6, 2014 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rmm553 (talk • contribs) 08:15, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Certainly you wouldn't call Innu "Eskimo", since they are First Nations (related to Cree) and not remotely related to Inuit. 70.75.233.253 (talk) 06:51, 10 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

My friend from Alaska told me that the word "Eskimo" is profoundly offensive where she grew up -- pretty much at the level of other "fighting words" slurs. I'm also pretty confident it's a slur in Canada. This makes me wonder if it's appropriate to use as the title of this article. I'm not sure what would be a reasonable alternative, though.~~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Katsam (talk • contribs) 11:33, 18 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I do not know where your friend grew up in Alaska, but I would have to say that your friend is probably largely incorrect (I grew up in Alaska, and Eskimo is kind of an uneducated term, but that doesn't make it an offensive one), but what is the point of the argument? It is not a "slur" in Canada, it is a term regarded as offensive by some people in some parts of Canada, which the article says. The "reasonable alternative" of which you speak, is that if you are talking to someone who may be sensitive about the name of their ethnic origins (e.g., to refer to a Inuit person from Alaska as "Inupiat", or better yet a more specific local tribe), and for people to not choose to be offended when other people use broad, umbrella terms that have use inside a certain context, and are imperfectly applied elsewhere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.171.145.145 (talk) 01:42, 14 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Eskimo is sometimes considered offensive mostly because it was, for a unfortunate period of history, in a specific region of Canada (and Greenland?) used in an offensive way, specifically to refer to people while doing highly offensive things to them, and while treating them in a highly offensive way. It is also a bit like saying "black people" or "white people" or "European people" or "Asian people" (though it is a bit more specific and in that sense not quite as bad as those terms) -- it is imprecise. That is, it refers to a wide range of people who may or may not want to be grouped in with a lot of other people, and who, at some point or another in their lives, will almost definitely feel inclined to self-identify as part of a more specific category. None of these things make the word "Eskimo" fundamentally offensive, or an ethnic slur. The idea that it is supposedly derived "from eaters of raw meat" is a myth, so the point is moot, as the article in its present form strongly alludes to. One of the main reasons "Eskimo" is a valuable term, and cannot be easily discarded, is that relates to the second and third migrations (as opposed to the first) from Siberia to North America. As such, it is a term which actually draws significant credence from the science of genetics. To "consider it offensive" or to invent new words so that other people will not be offended is largely just muddying the waters, in the former case taking umbrage at a linguistically reasonable (not pejorative) term, and in the latter case pure elitism, creating a false division between those who are educated and those who are not, those who prefer simple wording to those who prefer hyphens and political correctness.

This has been a horribly bitter debate on this very article, which I myself have been involved in, sad to say, and I think it points to a couple of things:
(1) Don't oppress people(s) and treat them like sh*t. If you do, no matter what you call them afterwards, they probably will not like you very much.
(2) Don't hold grudges for more than two or three generations (or preferably, at all, actually) and don't get offended at people using words not intended to offend you, and DO NOT correct other people merely because you think they are using a so-called offensive word. Instead, DO get offended when people act negatively towards other people, or when they speak negatively of other people, particularly when they make unfair generalizations, and speak in such a way that the third person, if present, could not help but get offended over.
We can't actually write these things into the article, but we can write this article, and others like it, in that spirit, and I can write these things here, on the Talk page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.171.145.145 (talk) 02:18, 14 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

it seems that this debate needs to be revived, or at least revisited more thoroughly. the arguments made here that 'eskimo' is not a slur are 1- contrary to the lived experiences of said people/s, as well as 2- essentially equivalent to saying (from the position of privilege of not being in any of these groups) that one should simply "not be offended" when it is not the job of the offended to cease offense but rather the job of those doing the offending. also, 3- if the same argument were made that "nigger", "wog", or various other racial and ethnic slurs are somehow acceptable then i doubt the same result would arise; essentially this means that a differential standard is being applied here. i think that it is fairly obvious that the mere existence of this issue is sufficient to change the name of the article, with a redirect for those searching using it, and a more overt explanation in the article of exactly why the term is in fact offensive. (Eristikophiles (talk) 13:20, 20 May 2016 (UTC))[reply]

Ah, see, the problem here is not with the word "eskimo", but with your idea of the the meaning of the word "offensive". You believe that the word "nigger" is offensive, probably because someone has told you that it is offensive, thus you choose to blindly repeat what you have been told. Indeed the word "nigger" is often used with the intention of giving offense, hence it is usually considered to be a "slur". And yet, in modern times it is, at least as often, used as a word of companionship. But the bottom line for any word having an entry in Wikipedia is this: does it uniquely represent a useful concept. And the bottom line, then, for the entry itself? Does it fairly and reasonably represent that concept.69.162.192.65 (talk) 13:19, 26 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
   If a person of that culture says its offensive, then its offensive. Eskimo is NOT a proper term. A term that would "fairly and reasonably represent that concept" is the Inuit or First Nations of the North or Indigenous Peoples of the Far North. And yet you refuse to change the article name. People of color should not have to deal with professional organizations using such offensive and negative words in a misleading manner. There needs to be an article explaining how the term Eskimo IS a slur rather then miss lead people to a misunderstood education like this article is currently doing. This website is about free education to all, lets have that education be as correct as possible.  "Nigger", "chink", "cracker", all have this option on this website. This article is title should be renamed. http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/24/475129558/why-you-probably-shouldnt-say-eskimo
A term that would "fairly and reasonably represent that concept" is the Inuit

Well, except for all the Eskimo people who are not Inuit. Specifically, the Yupik, who are the majority of Eskimo people in Alaska. There are about 35,000 Yupik, and only 13,500 Iñupiat (i.e., Inuit). Guess what? Many Yupik get offended if you call them Inuit. As well they might. It's like calling an Italian "French" or a Pole "Russian", or something of that nature.

66.230.113.14 (talk) 04:14, 6 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/resources/inuit-eskimo/


What is this? This guy is not ok. A term is a term and not an offense. From the point a European says the word "european" is offensive, will it become an improper term? This is really bullshit. Just take the challenge. I am a European, and I say the word European is offensive. We have to be called First Continent people. Please go write this to the article European. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.76.109.196 (talk) 07:01, 28 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Clarification (Eskimo, Yupik, Inuit, Iñupiat, Aleut)

This article spends a lot of time discussing the term Eskimo and whether or not it's offensive, but it never really clarifies differences and similarities between different groupings of Eskimo and why they're considered different, but still collectively Eskimo. Can someone address (and possibly add to the article) the following questions about the groups?:

Eskimo: What makes an Eskimo an Eskimo? Geographic location? Language? Culture? Genetics? Why are they subdivided into two or three different groups, but still collectively considered Eskimo?

Language, culture, and genetics. All of the above.

Iñupiat: Are the Iñupiat of Alaska the 'same' as the Inuit of Canada and Greenland? Are there any Alaskan Inuits who are not Iñupiat? Are there any Iñupiat in the Yukon? Or is it purely nomenclature? In Alaska, they're called Iñupiat, cross into Canada and it's Inuit? Or are these two groups different?

The Iñupiat language and culture are pretty close to that of the Canadian Inuit (much closer than the Yupik are to either group). There are Iñupiat everywhere in the world. :-) But if what you're asking is whether they were historically found in Yukon, no. The Yukon territory is in Canada, and was historically inhabited by Athabascan groups ("Indians"). The Yukon *River* flows across Alaska, and there are indigenous people there, but again, mostly Athabascans. Eskimos historically were coastal people, and didn't wander inland too far. Their lifestyle was dependent on hunting sea mammals, for the most part. There is only one Iñupiat group in Alaska that historically lived inland, the Nunatamiut, who made their living by hunting caribou.

Yupik, Inuit, and Iñupiat: Why are these (two or three?) groups all put together under the umbrella term Eskimo? What makes them different enough from one another to be distinct groups, but similar enough to still all be Eskimos?

The Yupik language is different from the Iñupiat language (though in the same language family). They are not Inuit by any reasonable definition of that term. Think of Italian and Spanish (both Romance languages, but different from each other) or German and English (both Germanic languages, but different from each other). As a direct illustration of the difference, both "Yupik" and "Iñupiaq" mean "real people". If you say these words, you can see how they are related, without being the same. The two languages are not mutually intelligible. Using German and English again, the German "mutter" is clearly similar to the English "mother", but that doesn't mean that a speaker of one language can understand the other.

Aleut: Why aren't the Aleut considered another grouping of Eskimo? How are they similar enough to the Yupik, Inuit, and Iñupiat to be "closely related," but different enough from those groups to not actually be considered Eskimo?

The Aleut language is in the same language group, but much more distantly related. Their word for themselves is "Unangax", pretty far from the other two. The cultures also differ quite a bit.

And please don't tell me to look at all of the respective individual articles. THIS article should clarify what an Eskimo is or isn't, why different groups are similar enough to be collectively called Eskimo, and why related groups are seemingly a little too different to fall under the Eskimo umbrella. I'm asking in all seriousness, as it's not clear to me what the difference between Inuit and Iñupiat is, why these two are lumped with Yupik as Eskimo, and why the Aleuts don't pass the "Eskimo test."

Hope this helps.

Thank you. 69.244.114.231 (talk) 00:23, 25 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Inuit and Iñupiat/Iñupiaq: Iñupiaq is a sub-group of Inuit peoples (and the name of the language of that sub-group). Iñupiat refers to a member or (plural) members of the Iñupiaq people, so substitutes for Iñupiaq when used in the universal sense.
Inupiaq and Inuit generally are "sub-grouped" together with Yu'pik as Eskimo due to similar language and culture. They are "broader-grouped" together with Aleut due being in the same language family and due to date of migration, and arguably being of similar cultures. Even so, Wikipedia's task is to define the word/concept, not to justify the grouping.
"The Aleut language is in the same language group, but much more distantly related."
Yeah but that doesn't really answer the original question: "Why aren't the Aleut considered another grouping of Eskimo? ...THIS article should clarify what an Eskimo is or isn't, "

So, to answer that, I'm editing the article with info on the Eskimo-Aleut language group

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Naming

The CBC article used to reference that Inuit don't see Eskimo as pejorative does not say that. All that the article shows is that some Inuit don't mind the name of the football team being the Edmonton Eskimos but not that they want to be called Eskimo. It's easy enough to find people that object both to the team name and being called Eskimo, Natan Obed (Attention Edmonton Eskimos: Inuit are not mascots) and Tanya Tagaq (Paula Simons: Time to hear Tanya Tagaq's Eskimos challenge) for example. I have plenty of Inuit friends that don't mind the name of the team but don't want to be called Eskimo and others who don't want the team named Eskimos either. Aldep77 CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 20:29, 20 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]


CambridgeBayWeather The CBC article does cite Inuit people calling themselves proudly Eskimos "we are the real Eskimos", so they do not see it as offensive as wiki page tells. Therefore the statement that all Inuit view it as offensive is wrong. I mention that this issue is controversial. Added another reference to the co-op store that is located in several Inuit villages, ran by Innuit and called "Eskimo co-op"

The Sirenik

A reference[3] for the statement "Yu'pik of eastern Siberia" (as used in the intro of this article, this phrase includes both the "Siberian Yu'pik" and the Serenik peoples) has been added.

The Sirenik are ethnically a Yu'pik people, but their extinct language is more closely related to Chukchi than to other Yu'pik languages. The reference I added is a detailed one from The Smithsonian. Something additional could perhaps be added to the intro to reflect this. Many Sirenik people now speak Russian, not Yupik. Some speak a dialect of Siberian Yupik, entirely distinct from the extinct Sirenik language. Cultural influence on the from the Chukchi, who are not generally considered to be closely related to the Inuit or Yupik groups, has historically been significant.


  • References

[1]. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chukchi

[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirenik_Eskimos

[3]. https://alaska.si.edu/culture_ne_siberian.asp?subculture=Yupik%20(Asiatic%20Eskimo)&continue=1

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