Inuit vs. Eskimo

You will notice that I use the term Eskimo in this blog. No, it’s not because I’m an insensitive jerk who prefers to use derogatory terms for people. It is because in Alaska, where I grew up and where the languages that fascinate me reside, Inuit is not preferred over Eskimo.

In Canada, the term Inuit is preferred over Eskimo, which is considered offensive. What many people do not know is that using the term Inuit as a blanket term for all arctic people in Alaska is offensive – the opposite of the situation in Canada. Why? Because there are two main groups of arctic people in Alaska, the Yupik and the Iñupiat. The Yupik peoples are Eskimo but not Inuit. Quite understandably, they don’t like being called Inuit because they aren’t Inuit (and the word doesn’t even exist in Yupik languages). This means that it’s better to call arctic Alaskans Eskimos, not Inuit – or better yet, call them Yupik if they are Yupik, Iñupiat if they are Iñupiat, Cup’ik if they are Cup’ik, and so on.

So, to sum it up:

  • Canada: Inuit
  • United States (i.e., Alaska): Eskimo, which includes Yupik and Inuit peoples
  • Greenland: Kalaallit (Inuit may be acceptable as well, but I simply don’t know)
  • Russia: Eskimo (albeit in Russian, Эскимо). Mostly Yupik peoples, with the exception of Inuit on Big Diomede. Sirenikski may be separate from both Yupik and Inuit (hat tip to Anthony Woodbury).

Also, the name of the language family encompassing their languages is Eskimo-Aleut. Within Eskimo, there’s a division between Yupik and Inuit languages, much like the division between the cultural groups. Replacing Eskimo-Aleut with *Inuit-Aleut would be incorrect.

Note: contrary to popular belief, there are also non-Eskimo indigenous peoples in Alaska: the Aleut (Unangan) as well as many different Native American groups. I’ve seen at least one popular American movie set in Southeast Alaska that called the local indigenous people Inuit – a gross error, because the peoples of that region are neither Iñupiat nor Yupik.

6 Comments

  1. buzzmc said,

    August 26, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Very interesting. I imagine if you go up to Alaska, for example, you can just play it safe by calling people by their proper name (ie. Mr. John). I wonder if there is a good “dummies” book for Alaska or the frozen parts of Canada. I found one, but it was really just for tourists. On p. 16 it gets into the different people. I wonder if you would agree with everything they have to say.

  2. Anthony Woodbury said,

    August 27, 2008 at 5:14 am

    You write:

    ” * Russia: Eskimo (albeit in Russian, Эскимо). There are no Inuit linguistic or cultural groups there, only Yupik.”

    Not quite. On Big Diomede, which is part of Russia, the people speak the same variety of Iñupiat spoken on Little Diomede, in the US.

    Also–at least until quite recently–there was a variety of Eskimo in the Russian Arctic known as Sirenik(ski), spoken only on the Sirenik Peninsula in its last days, which most specialists now view as being it’s own, third branch–neither Yupik nor Inuit.

    Tony Woodbury

  3. tulugaq said,

    August 27, 2008 at 5:18 am

    Oh, I’d forgotten about Diomede. Thanks for the reminder!

  4. John Concilus said,

    September 4, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Hello,

    I think the folks living on Big Diomede were removed many years ago to Uleen and other parts of Chukotka, and many of their descendents are still in Uelen.

    The only people on Big Diomede are soldiers who do long postings at this base:

    http://www.odyssei.com/travel-gallery/79808.html

    You can see this Russian observation post from the village on Little Diomede. The picture shows the village looking from the Russian side:

    http://www.odyssei.com/travel-gallery/79810.html

    You can contact the Diomede School teachers and students through their website at:

    http://diomede.bssd.org/blog/

    Hope this is of interest. Their steerable webcam should be back up next week.

    Regards,

    John

  5. Ishmael said,

    April 26, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    My mom proudly referred to herself as Eskimo, and so do I. I whip out “Central Yupik” and explain the relationship to other related and unrelated Alaska Native groups if they want specifics.

  6. Ac said,

    September 24, 2009 at 11:06 am

    Like this. eing a Yupik Eskimo I have to explain this all the time.

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