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Eskimo name change?


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If there's one thing I know, it's that there's way too many people out there with too much time on their hands trying to make a name for themselves by being "offended" by everything. It's the same people that want to live in their little bubble where no one should get hurt or feel any kind of pain or discomfort. The same people who don't want to have grades in school or score points in sports because they don't know how to teach their children how to win or lose properly, or how to pick themselves up, and dust themselves off.

I'm not saying no one should never be offended, but lately everyone is getting offended by everything.

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If there's one thing I know, it's that there's way too many people out there with too much time on their hands trying to make a name for themselves by being "offended" by everything. It's the same people that want to live in their little bubble where no one should get hurt or feel any kind of pain or discomfort. The same people who don't want to have grades in school or score points in sports because they don't know how to teach their children how to win or lose properly, or how to pick themselves up, and dust themselves off.

I'm not saying no one should never be offended, but lately everyone is getting offended by everything.

Which leads one to ask why. Why now? What is really going on here? But I digress ...

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Who named them "Eskimos" (the Inuit peoples) in the first place?  Was it them or a subsection of them?  Or was it a bunch of white scientists many years ago?  And were the Edmonton Eskimos specifically named after the people from the North?  If so, and the people that the EE are named after find that term offensive, then maybe a new name should be considered.  I know I'd be annoyed if people from other countries kept referring to us Canadians as "British North Americans"  and naming their sports teams that term no matter how much we tried to correct them  :lol:.

 

I get the EE have a long and glorious history as the Eskimos, but the RedBlacks have moved on from the Rough Riders quite nicely.  Maybe the EE could move on too.  

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Who named them "Eskimos" (the Inuit peoples) in the first place?  Was it them or a subsection of them?  Or was it a bunch of white scientists many years ago?  And were the Edmonton Eskimos specifically named after the people from the North?  If so, and the people that the EE are named after find that term offensive, then maybe a new name should be considered.  I know I'd be annoyed if people from other countries kept referring to us Canadians as "British North Americans"  and naming their sports teams that term no matter how much we tried to correct them  :lol:.

 

I get the EE have a long and glorious history as the Eskimos, but the RedBlacks have moved on from the Rough Riders quite nicely.  Maybe the EE could move on too.  

White scientists?  From the 15th/16th century?  I don't know how many "scientists" actually lived in Canada during that time.

 

In any case, no one really knows, but there's a few theories.  From Wikipedia:

 

"Two principal competing etymologies have been proposed for the name "Eskimo," both derived from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) language, an Algonquian language of the Atlantic Ocean coast. The most commonly accepted today appears to be the proposal of Ives Goddard at the Smithsonian Institution, who derives it from the Montagnais word meaning "snowshoe-netter"[11] or "to net snowshoes."[1] The word assime·w means "she laces a snowshoe" in Montagnais. Montagnais speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound very much like eskimo.[12][13]

In 1978, Jose Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Montagnais, published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language".[14][15] French traders who encountered the Montagnais in the eastern areas, adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau in a transliteration.

Some people consider Eskimo derogatory because it is widely perceived to mean[11][16][15][17] "eaters of raw meat" in Algonkian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[1][18][19] One Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (which means "he eats it raw"); the Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (which means "eats something raw").[18][20][19][21]

In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted "Inuit" as a designation for all Eskimo peoples, regardless of their local usages.[citation needed] The Inuit Circumpolar Council, as it is known today, uses both "Inuit" and "Eskimo" in its official documents"

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"Asians" isn't an offensive term but can you imagine a team calling itself the Edmonton Asians? And then have a mascot named Chun-Li? It just wouldn't happen. Teams shouldn't be named after a race.

Uh oh then you better call the local Greek community Centre and have them complain about the argonauts.

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"Asians" isn't an offensive term but can you imagine a team calling itself the Edmonton Asians? And then have a mascot named Chun-Li? It just wouldn't happen. Teams shouldn't be named after a race.

Uh oh then you better call the local Greek community Centre and have them complain about the argonauts.

 

You don't see the difference?

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"Asians" isn't an offensive term but can you imagine a team calling itself the Edmonton Asians? And then have a mascot named Chun-Li? It just wouldn't happen. Teams shouldn't be named after a race.

Uh oh then you better call the local Greek community Centre and have them complain about the argonauts.

Is Argonaut a race? No. Dallas Cowboys is OK. Dallas Whiteys is not.

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If they have to change the name, I wouldn't mind seeing it changed to the Edmonton Elks, would only have to change one letter in "esks" and could still keep with the wintry theme I suppose. Although, wouldn't they need permission from Elks worldwide to go through with it ? How would the Elks sign off on it ?

 

b26e3b_32dc793ff8c7e45c4bb85be2f8a2c4bb.picture12256684956343.jpg

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Who named them "Eskimos" (the Inuit peoples) in the first place?  Was it them or a subsection of them?  Or was it a bunch of white scientists many years ago?  And were the Edmonton Eskimos specifically named after the people from the North?  If so, and the people that the EE are named after find that term offensive, then maybe a new name should be considered.  I know I'd be annoyed if people from other countries kept referring to us Canadians as "British North Americans"  and naming their sports teams that term no matter how much we tried to correct them  :lol:.

 

I get the EE have a long and glorious history as the Eskimos, but the RedBlacks have moved on from the Rough Riders quite nicely.  Maybe the EE could move on too.  

White scientists?  From the 15th/16th century?  I don't know how many "scientists" actually lived in Canada during that time.

 

In any case, no one really knows, but there's a few theories.  From Wikipedia:

 

"Two principal competing etymologies have been proposed for the name "Eskimo," both derived from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) language, an Algonquian language of the Atlantic Ocean coast. The most commonly accepted today appears to be the proposal of Ives Goddard at the Smithsonian Institution, who derives it from the Montagnais word meaning "snowshoe-netter"[11] or "to net snowshoes."[1] The word assime·w means "she laces a snowshoe" in Montagnais. Montagnais speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound very much like eskimo.[12][13]

In 1978, Jose Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Montagnais, published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language".[14][15] French traders who encountered the Montagnais in the eastern areas, adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau in a transliteration.

Some people consider Eskimo derogatory because it is widely perceived to mean[11][16][15][17] "eaters of raw meat" in Algonkian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[1][18][19] One Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (which means "he eats it raw"); the Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (which means "eats something raw").[18][20][19][21]

In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted "Inuit" as a designation for all Eskimo peoples, regardless of their local usages.[citation needed] The Inuit Circumpolar Council, as it is known today, uses both "Inuit" and "Eskimo" in its official documents"

 

 

http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/images/goddard.jpg

 

I don't know.  Looks pretty pale to me.  :lol:

 

But you are right.  No one really knows for sure.  

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Atlanta Braves

I always wondered about that one. It is the "land of the free and the home of the brave" afterall.

That's why their mascot is now named Homer the Brave. (Seriously)

Don't know the current Braves mascot, but that does sound less offensive. Chief Noc-a-Homa must have been replaced. Native groups would be offended by Chief Noc-a-Homa as he would get out of his teepee and dance after a Braves home run.actually sounds silly in the present day.

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Who named them "Eskimos" (the Inuit peoples) in the first place?  Was it them or a subsection of them?  Or was it a bunch of white scientists many years ago?  And were the Edmonton Eskimos specifically named after the people from the North?  If so, and the people that the EE are named after find that term offensive, then maybe a new name should be considered.  I know I'd be annoyed if people from other countries kept referring to us Canadians as "British North Americans"  and naming their sports teams that term no matter how much we tried to correct them  :lol:.

 

I get the EE have a long and glorious history as the Eskimos, but the RedBlacks have moved on from the Rough Riders quite nicely.  Maybe the EE could move on too.  

White scientists?  From the 15th/16th century?  I don't know how many "scientists" actually lived in Canada during that time.

 

In any case, no one really knows, but there's a few theories.  From Wikipedia:

 

"Two principal competing etymologies have been proposed for the name "Eskimo," both derived from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) language, an Algonquian language of the Atlantic Ocean coast. The most commonly accepted today appears to be the proposal of Ives Goddard at the Smithsonian Institution, who derives it from the Montagnais word meaning "snowshoe-netter"[11] or "to net snowshoes."[1] The word assime·w means "she laces a snowshoe" in Montagnais. Montagnais speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound very much like eskimo.[12][13]

In 1978, Jose Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Montagnais, published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language".[14][15] French traders who encountered the Montagnais in the eastern areas, adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau in a transliteration.

Some people consider Eskimo derogatory because it is widely perceived to mean[11][16][15][17] "eaters of raw meat" in Algonkian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[1][18][19] One Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (which means "he eats it raw"); the Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (which means "eats something raw").[18][20][19][21]

In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted "Inuit" as a designation for all Eskimo peoples, regardless of their local usages.[citation needed] The Inuit Circumpolar Council, as it is known today, uses both "Inuit" and "Eskimo" in its official documents"

 

 

http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/images/goddard.jpg

 

I don't know.  Looks pretty pale to me.  :lol:

 

But you are right.  No one really knows for sure.  

 

You said who first named them.  It sure wasn't Goddard...if it was that's a pretty clear picture they took of him hundreds of years ago.  :)

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Atlanta Braves

I always wondered about that one. It is the "land of the free and the home of the brave" afterall.

That's why their mascot is now named Homer the Brave. (Seriously)

 

Perfect solution then...dress up the Edmonton mascot as an Eskimo bar.

 

b28970ffe836eb957e1845fcfa17676c.jpg

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American Inuit do not find the term "Eskimo" offensive but then again they still use the outdated and incorrect term "Indian".

Canadian Inuit however do not like the term.

If one segment of society have issue with it I would hope that we as society are open to discussion. Not stuck in antiquated opinions and let go of the stubbornness.

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