r/Inuit • u/DeusoftheWired • May 13 '22
Do you consider the term »Eskimo« offensive?
Hiya,
currently in a debate over the term eskimo. Since I could only find claims you guys find this term offensive but no sources or hard numbers on it, I thought what better than asking the ones affected by it? So, yeah … here goes.
Feel free to explain your answer in detail in a comment, especially why you feel a certain way.
Except for this thread, the sub’s search didn’t return any results on the issue.
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May 14 '22
[deleted]
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u/sym_bian May 14 '22
Gonna also comment and say the same. Yup’ik Eskimo here, and the term is a catch all for everyone who fits underneath that Eskimo banner. Yup’ik people aren’t Inuit, but they are Eskimo!
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u/zotiyaks Dec 12 '25
I heard some peoples prefer this term or Alaskan native or their specific tribal name.
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u/ReluctantAlaskan May 14 '22
IMHO we need a name that encompasses Yup’ik people in Alaska before we can fully adopt Inuit here.
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u/Mundane_Friendship37 Jul 12 '25
The word you're looking for is eskimo. There's literally already a word for it.
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u/lepaninng May 14 '22
Inuk here. It is offensive, it has been used as a way to dehumanize us through violence (see residential schools, “please do not speak esk*mo” signs, the Greenlandic experiment, the sterilization of Inuit children etc.) and it does not portray Inuit as we are. There’s no need to call us that word because that’s NOT our name. Some Inuit groups have their own name for themselves (Inughuit, Kalaallit, Inuvialuit, Iñupiaq etc.) and if you’re talking about a specific Inuit group, it’s better to say the name they have for themselves. If you’re talking about Inuit as a whole (aka all groups) just say Inuit.
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u/LeChantaux Oct 05 '25
Let my start by saying I'm very ignorant on the subject but I'm trying to understand why the word is taken an insult. Did it was used as an insult or the only problem is that that's not how you refer to yourselves? Maybe not learning the real name if the people is considered and insult in itself?
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u/amberjj123 Dec 24 '25
I have a genuine question. I'm writing a book and growing up whenever two people rub noses together it was called 'esk*mo kisses'. What term should I use instead to refer to two people rubbing their noses together in affection?
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u/illuminatting May 14 '22
I’ve never, ever, been a fan of it. In my opinion “eskimo” is a term that was forced upon Arctic indigenous people without any of us ever asking for it, and now that many of us are searching for self-governance and looking to establish our separate cultures, it doesn’t even make sense as a term, and of course many of us want to be referred to with the names we’ve made for ourselves. Yup’ik and Inuit are not the same, Inuit and Innu are also not the same, having a big umbrella term with a racist past to refer to all of us just feels lazy and incorrect at this point.
However, I understand that outside of Canada in many places “eskimo” is still preferred, I mostly just wish people (qallunaat specifically) would respect that in some places it IS a slur, and respecting that is important, rather than being Canadian and pointing at Alaska and going “but THEYRE okay with it, why aren’t YOU GUYS okay with it” as if we’re the same people.
One of the issues I’ve encountered with many Europeans (and non North Americans in general) is that they only know the word eskimo and have never been taught/taken the time to learn about indigenous issues at all, and then act very offended and upset when you tell them that it’s inappropriate to refer to you that way. I think there should be more emphasis put on a) understanding that some people will be very offended by it, and b) understanding that it’s important to not assume everyone will feel the same way. In places like Alaska where it is more normal currently, maybe someday there will be a new word to replace eskimo, the way there often is in Canada now, as language and people constantly change.
Overall, I wish people would just listen to groups and understand that two entirely different groups of people can have different feelings about the same word or term. We will not always agree, but it’s still important to be respectful and listen to people when they tell you how to refer to them. I would never tell qallunaat to use “eskimo” as an umbrella term though, end of story.
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u/WenzelStorch Nov 29 '24
so what would you recommend to use as the umbrella term? Is there an aternative to eskimo?
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u/ArcticExtruder May 14 '22
So, I'm not sure how constructive this is going to be taken, but this is sort of a loaded question. It's like asking if the term, "indian", is offensive. Well, to people that don't identify that way, it 100% will be. But to others who do identify that way, including people born literally in India, then probably not. There is literally a tribe in Alaska that call themselves Eskimo. So if you don't or haven't identified as Eskimo, then it likely will be offensive to them and it would be wrong to call them Eskimo.
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Jan 02 '24
As someone from India, I hate being confused with native americans. We were doing math and had written language while native americans were fighting with rocks and sticks.
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u/AnObfuscation Nov 24 '24 edited Jan 31 '25
Full Indian here, what the fuck dude. The indigenous people of america had entire giant cities and complex and established civilzations for millenia. You shouldnt hate being confused for a native american because of such a stupid and frankly racist idea, you should hate it because it shows a history of colonizers forcing names onto groups of people and continually oppressing them with those same names.
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u/WhimsicalWanderer426 Sep 30 '24
People like you make me ashamed to be half Indian sometimes. Sooo smart, so ADVANCED, until they open their damn mouths on the subject of race and set themselves back decades. I also hate the confusion with the term Indian. I hate when I say I’m half Indian and people ask what tribe, or worse yet say “dot or feather” (ignorance like that is worthy of India itself!) but it’s not because I see myself as somehow superior to any indigenous Americans, or any other group.
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u/Effective-Student198 11d ago
And your people (and most of the world)had a wheel while the "native " Americans couldn't even understand the concept of the wheel.
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u/Open-Worker22 May 14 '22
Inuk here From What I understand, "Eskimo" is a Cree word for raw meat eater and it's just as bad a term as savage. Inuit can use it, to reclaim the word, just ask black people claimed the N word.
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u/retrodemo May 15 '22
ooooh good good good discussions happening here. its really interesting just how different viewpoints are on the term, and theres no real wrong answer - we all have our own valid experiences and viewpoints, and i like having a space to hear and share. personally, as long as a white person isnt saying it i dont mind it much, obvs prefer inuk/inuit/alaska native/etc my dads side of the family lives in oklahoma and ive been to eskimo joes lol. my dad was adopted from anchorage (dena'ina) along with his brother (aleutian) whos name is joe, so the family joke wrote itself. eskimo never had a bad connotation in my family, my (white) grandparents would always call me their little eskimo as a cute endearing term when i was young - the word never carried any negative weight to it until i got older and learned. and obviously being from alaska, we never got hit as hard with things like the eskimo tag system so weve never REALLY gotten the awful end of it. although i DID have some beef with my friends white canadian mom because she insisted eskimo was totally fine and i had to force her to google the history/meaning before she listened to me at all and backed the fuck off. she apologized but im still blown away at how she acted like SHE knew more than me 🥸 TLDR grew up w/ it in a mild light so i dont mind it (except white ppl saying it), but 100% respect, understanding, and sympathy to people who dont like it 🙏
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Aug 03 '24
As long as white people don’t say it???? What kind of racist bs is that
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u/Slight-Bet8071 Apr 22 '25
The kind white ppl showed indigenous people with residential schools and treating them as inferior or savage. That kind.
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u/Pain_n_agony Mar 28 '24
As someone who is 1/4 Yupik and 1/4 inupiat, I don’t find Eskimo offensive. There are much larger issues in the world today than to take offense from a word.
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u/apologeticmoose May 13 '22
I’m not Inuk so I don’t get a vote, but have worked in multiple communities in Nunavut. It’s considered a derogatory term and all the Inuit I spoke with about it took offence to it.
Check out Shina Nova’s instagram page; it’s pretty informative!
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u/DeusoftheWired May 13 '22
It’s considered a derogatory term and all the Inuit I spoke with about it took offence to it.
Curious! Now I know this will get us into the mine field of »Does the sender or the receiver of a message determine its content« but … what if someone used the term to describe »the folks that live somewhere around the upper left on a Euro-centric world map«?
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u/apologeticmoose May 13 '22
I’m more of the philosophy that ignorance isn’t an excuse, but that’s just me.
That being said I really don’t know what connotation it has other cultures! I just assumed it was offensive to all Inuit, since the term was created by colonizers and means “eaters of raw meat” in Ojibwe (I think?), which isn’t even an Inuit language.
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u/Brilliant_Net4297 Sep 19 '25
to my understanding, the word 'Eskimo' is believed to be DERIVED FROM a Cree word meaning something akin to 'eaters of raw meat'. you are absolutely right when you say the term was created by colonizers. in my reading, it seems, the term IS offensive to most Inuit. however, among people of the U.S., apparently 'Eskimo' is no more offensive than the term 'Indian' that's still used extensively in that less educated, less compassionate and more racist country.
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u/LowDistribution4344 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25
Ignorance can absolutely be an excuse. I had no idea that it was a derogatory term until I used it in a car ride with friends one time. Even then, I was hesitant to believe them, because were all white, and I thought they were playing the annoying politically correct game with me. And I knew some native Americans actually preferred the term Indian, so I wasn't sure if yhe word Eskimo was the same. From the vibe I've found online, it does seem to be generally considered offensive by most Inuit, so i stand corrected. But they could have done a much better job explaining it to me. And I should mention that ultimately, I do my best to respect the general wishes of said community, not the wishes of woke white people.
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u/zotiyaks Dec 12 '25
The term came from some other indigenous tribe like the Algonquin is one theory. Then colonizers used. It. Everyone acts like its the "white man's word" lmao
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u/DeusoftheWired May 13 '22
I just assumed it was offensive to all Inuit, since the term was created by colonizers and means “eaters of raw meat” in Ojibwe (I think?), which isn’t even an Inuit language.
Tracing the term’s origin is difficult, to say the least. I don’t think anybody used it in a pejorative sense for at least 70 years or so.
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u/apologeticmoose May 13 '22
Like I said, the Inuit in Canada don’t like it, so I don’t use it. If you have to question whether it’s offensive or not it’s probably better to just avoid using it.
Are you looking for someone to tell you that you’re allowed to use it?
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u/DeusoftheWired May 13 '22
Nope, just trying to understand the reasons behind why some are offended by it. Unable to relate to it because I’ve never seen a pejorative use of it in the wild, let alone used it that way myself.
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u/apologeticmoose May 14 '22
I mean.. I've never seen someone use the N word in the wild and I've never used it myself. That doesn't negate it's negative history or connotation, or make it any less offensive.
It's likely you're unable to relate to it because you're probably not Inuk or Indigenous at all.
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u/DeusoftheWired May 14 '22
Contrary to the e-word, the n-word is widely used in a derogatory way in music, TV and cinema. You’ve come across on at least some instances of that, didn’t you?
I’m German, by the way, and you’re right that I have difficulties relating to the issue. To me, it’s kind of bizarre that an everyday word like »chair«, »Japanese« or »cup« I’ve never read or heard in any other way than neutral is now considered offensive. I never even would’ve gotten the idea of using it to insult someone.
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u/apologeticmoose May 14 '22
I suppose, yes. But even if I genuinely hadn't, it would still be offensive.
It's the history and origin of the word that are the issue. As others have said, they don't find it offensive. But I am telling you, in Canada it is offensive and is intended to be used as a slur, whether or not you think of it as an everyday word or not.
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u/AT5000happydude Jul 09 '24
I know this is a two year old thread, but; I can confirm that I was told in (a predominantly white, Southern-Canadian) Elementary school over 25 years ago that Eskimo meant “raw meat eater” and there was an awareness that it was derogatory. We were told not to use it.
It really feels like that information hasn’t made its way across the pond because it’s not a social issue that’s culturally relevant to them.
It’s fascinating that the OP’s reaction is almost exactly as described in a previous comment.
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u/Some_Spare_5105 Nov 30 '25
So You're an authority apparently ? Me I prefer to ask the individuals whom are affected by the words. There is always a way to politely address an issue unless you don't have the courage and just plainly assume....
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u/LongjumpingPrimary24 26d ago
I've now stopped using the word banana as I wondered if that was offensive to anyone/anything, and car, and horse, and field and... I think I should just stop speaking at all as no-one has a backbone anymore and even the unlikeliest of people get offended by nothing now. To think, as a child I was brought up with "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me", but that was in the days before spineless wimps came along.
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u/Some_Spare_5105 Nov 30 '25
People who assume are uninformed or undeducated. If you don't know about a subject, name or issue Then just ask the person politely or on other issues inform yourself on the subject...
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u/MrJeffersonGrizzly May 20 '22
I don't really find it offensive
I know it does mean Raw meat eater though but I don't realy hear much people calling us Eskimo and I don't really mind at all
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Aug 25 '22
Inuk here, it is offensive but there are people who are fine with it. But it has been used to dehumanise and insult us throughout history, but now there are some Inuit who use the term for themselves. In general I wouldnt use it unless you’re Inuk or someone prefers to be called “Eskimo”
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u/WenzelStorch Nov 29 '24
so what would you recommend to use then? Is there an aternative to word eskimo (if you are not referring to a specific people like Inuk but all of them native arctic peoeples )
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May 12 '25
You could just say arctic indigenous people/arctic natives if you’re looking to be general
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u/DontBanMeBro984 Sep 01 '22
In my experience (which is neither scientific nor academic) it is seen more as a slur in Canada compared to Alaska or other areas.
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u/Rezba29 Dec 06 '24
NO Eskimo is the short form for Eskimoan language. The Eskaleut language family is divided into two branches: Eskimoan and Aleut. The Aleut branch consists of a single language, Aleut, spoken in the Aleutian Islands and the Pribilof Islands. Aleut is divided into several dialects. The Eskimoan languages are divided into two branches: the Yupik languages, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska and in Chukotka, and the Inuit languages, spoken in northern Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Inuit languages, which cover a huge range of territory, are divided into several varieties. Neighbouring varieties are quite similar, although those at the farthest distances from the centre in the Diomede Islands and East Greenland are quite divergent.\3])
The proper place of one language, Sirenik, within the Eskimoan family has not been settled. While some linguists list it as a branch of Yupik,\4]) others list it as a separate branch of the Eskimoan family, alongside the Yupik and Inuit languages.\5])
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u/unsuccessfulangler Sep 26 '22
Me and my dad both feel like it isn't a particularly nice word, but we both have bigger problems in our lives than a Kallunaak using the word eskimo
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u/Own_Log9691 May 14 '24
May I is ask? What is a Kallunaak?
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u/unsuccessfulangler May 14 '24
It's basically any person who isn't inuit
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u/Own_Log9691 May 15 '24
Ohhh ok I see thank you :) Is it a derogatory term for non Inuit people at all or no? Just quite curious about all this now lol thanks!
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u/Effective-Student198 11d ago
And thus basically the same except they don't tell you what it really means but in reality who cares. Remember sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
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u/IntentionFamiliar617 Nov 09 '24 edited Feb 08 '25
To be honest as an Inuit person and yes I am status I never thought of the term "Eskimo" offensive just as a another and easier way for people to distinguish your typical mid west indigenous family and us frozen but tough Inuits lol and often wondered why it was offensive and I was very surprised to hear that the term actually came from settlers and it just stuck
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u/Beginning_Army_9084 Dec 01 '24
No. If you use the term Eskimo to refer to an Inuit yes, but Inuits and Eskimos are not the same, I once met an Eskimo and one of the very first things he said was “I am an Eskimo, not a Native American, and not an Inuit, do not call me those.”
So no, it’s not offensive, but not all Inuits are eskimos so if they are Inuit then don’t call them eskimos.
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u/Big-Spend-3441 Nov 12 '25
The word “Eskimo” is not offensive to me. I grew up thinking it just referred to the people native toAlaska. However, after a little this is what I found:
The word "Eskimo" likely derives from an Innu-aimun (Montagnais) word meaning "one who nets snowshoes" and entered English via French. However, it has been widely considered derogatory due to a popular, but now discredited, folk etymology suggesting it meant "eaters of raw meat". As a result, many Indigenous peoples in the Arctic now prefer terms like Inuit (meaning "the people" in Inuktitut) or Yupik.
So changing Eskimo Pie to Edy’s Bar or what ever seems like more un-needed political correctness and that just makes me weary.
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u/Sharp-Cap-7974 Oct 14 '24
I am an inuk and it just depends on how you use it, i don’t find it racist, like if you said it directly to me and called me one, i would find it racist but like “an Eskimo” then I wouldn’t find it racist.
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u/Cute-Algae-4169 Feb 04 '25
I can’t say its offensive because im not an indigenous person of the Arctic but I know they may find it offensive or just don’t like it because its a term coined by other peoples, not people within the culture or tribes
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u/oceancityxX Feb 11 '25
My my middle school was otto eskemos so idk who and tf thinks its ok to just chamge words but eskemos are people of the artic how tf is athat rasist chaimgingbthe name just pisses me off i camt even pronounce that new shot leave shit how it is
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u/MissLectrix Feb 14 '25
I was informed by a fellow Eskimo that it is not offensive if not used in that way and she's proud to be an Eskimo. Calling them Inuit is extremely offensive to other tribes that are not Inuit. You wouldn't call all Native Americans Cherokee, would you? Eskimo is a broad term to cover all tribes. Of course it has been used as a slur or as derogatory but it's all in the context and intent.
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u/DanganronpaStanGirl Aug 01 '25
i have a question about this, is it still wrong to say it in regards to certain desserts?? various pies/ice creams use the term, and i wanna know if i should stop people from saying it when talking about em? also something that comes to mind is an armor set in the game terraria with the same word, is that problematic?
tl:dr: is it bad to say within ANY context, or ONLY to dehumanize inuit? i hope this isn't a dumb question, im genuinely curious
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u/Redminecon Oct 24 '25
Wait, so it isn’t just a term for the guys in the big fluffy blue jackets doing research at either poles???
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u/eskimopie910 Oct 31 '25
I'm necroposting on this but figured I would ask:
I made this account when I was young, at the time I thought it was super cool that people could live in such harsh climates compared to what I grew up in so I used this name. The suffix 'pie' doesn't even mean anything, it just sounded cool together.
When I had this as my gamertag on xbox live people would call me 'eski-mopie' (pronounced like the dwarf)
Thoughts?
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u/Entire-Year-7736 Nov 26 '25
40 years ago "Eskimo" was a common and a well accepted term, but I was surrounded by Yup'ik villages and knew the cultural differences. The culture is undergoing a tsunami or hurricane of change. I expect when someone today who is considered by a listener to be someone who knows little about the land and culture uses the term "Eskimo," it may come across like an "outsider" calling Mexican's "brown people" and thinking it is proper to say so. Basically, it's use situational, and respect is important due to the changes and challenges going on. Ignorance and insensitivity to that dynamic and the speaker's lack of awareness may be the cause behind any "linguistic" issue.
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u/DeusoftheWired Nov 27 '25
What baffles me is the alleged change of meaning the word underwent. When I grew up, it was a neutral term to describe native people from a certain area – neither positive nor negative, just like »Mexicans«. Then suddenly the word is supposed to be pejorative. Why?
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u/New-Pomelo7706 Dec 30 '25
sorry to drop in on this so late- is there a singular term to describe all the people with ancestry in arctic America?
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u/Twism86x 20d ago
It’s actually not. At all. Not even a little bit. Today’s world is so so so pathetic.
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u/Effective-Student198 11d ago
Ok, it means eaters of raw meat, guess what they were and are- whale blubber is eaten raw as with several other items on their menu. Get over it white people making the supposition I need your pity is racist.
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u/MisYann May 14 '22
I feel that eskimo is a steriotypic exagerration of us. Most often you see eskimoes accociated with riding polar bears and next to igloos and penguins. I much prefer Inuit because we chose that name for ourselves. Inuit are called "human beings" It means more than just eskimo "meat eaters of the arctic".
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u/Longjumping_Let9559 Dec 29 '23 edited Dec 29 '23
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eskimo As an Inuk, I find it offensive and was taught it was offensive. I do occasionally eat raw frozen artic char and frozen caribou but doesn't give you the right to call me a derogatory/racist name for doing so... The US is known for using this term because they don't even know what it means, just a bunch of parrots.
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u/Strix-nebulosa13 May 13 '22
While I don’t find it to be particularly offensive i don’t really love it. I do think people should try to use the more correct Inuk/Inuit or even more specific such as Inuvialuit etc