# People, Eskimo != Inuit !!!1121 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823 "2007-08-08T02:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/41 "2007-08-08T18:48:08Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Eskimo…Gypsy…spic…white trash…whatever. As long as I can safely call 50% of them “bitch,” I’m all good. [/QUOTE] But what do you call the women? I’m suddenly seized with the urge to watch that Monty Python ep with Mr. Neutron, just for the scene of Graham Chapman saying “we are _not_ Eskeemohs!” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/42 "2007-08-08T18:58:59Z")
[QUOTE=Aangelica] Think of it like this - “Eskimo” is a general term which is used to refer to **any member of any tribe of the indigenous peoples found north of about the US/Canadian border**. [/QUOTE] (bolding mine) Um, no, no it isn’t, not in Canada anyways. “Eskimo” or Inuit refer to the northern peoples, the ones who speak Inuktitut, traditionally lived on caribou, hunted seals, biuld snow houses as temporary shelter while hunting, etc. The more southern peoples are Haida, Tlingit, Ojibway, Cree, Huron, etc. These are the peoples called “Indians”, traditionally the woodland dwellers, the hunters and fishers and corn-growers. They are NOT Eskimos or Inuit. In Canada, all are officially called First Nations, or “native”. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/43 "2007-08-08T19:07:58Z")
That was what I thought too, **Sunspace** , but we’re wrong. Apparently First Nations refers only to “Indians”. Inuit do not consider themselves First Nations. Together, they make up the First Peoples. This was in the first link I posted which, apparently, doesn’t work. The [site](http://www.itk.ca/terminology.php) is here. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/44 "2007-08-08T19:35:35Z")
Look, we in America (you’know, God’s Country 😃 ) don’t have anything like First Nation or First People or First Whatevers. You’re Native American if you r ancestors happened to be here a really long time ago, and your Eskimo if yer a NA who lives in Canada or Alaska. Inuit and Haida and whatnot is specific tribes. So there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/45 "2007-08-08T19:36:26Z")
This is not America. This is the Internet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/46 "2007-08-08T20:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] Look, we in America (you’know, God’s Country 😃 ) don’t have anything like First Nation or First People or First Whatevers. You’re Native American if you r ancestors happened to be here a really long time ago, and your Eskimo if yer a NA who lives in Canada or Alaska. Inuit and Haida and whatnot is specific tribes. [/QUOTE] Well, we do distinguish between Eskimo and Indian (Native American) in Alaska, and we also have Hawaiians, who are not referred to as Native American. Weez gots our own problems, too! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/47 "2007-08-08T20:02:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] “Eskimo” or Inuit refer to the northern peoples, the ones who speak Inuktitut, traditionally lived on caribou, hunted seals, biuld snow houses as temporary shelter while hunting, etc. [/QUOTE] There is not only Inuktitut, there is also Inuvialuit, which is in the Western Arctic; I don’t know the native languages spoken outside of Canada in the North. [/_tuqituq qaalunaaq_\* who lived there way too long] \*crazy white person. Although the word _qaalunaaq_ actually translates to ‘eyebrow belly’, it means white person. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/48 "2007-08-08T20:10:41Z")
The real important question here is why did we abandon the old spelling of Esquimaux? It lets you exercise more of those unused letters on the keyboard! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/49 "2007-08-08T20:26:00Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] _someone_ [/QUOTE] I’ll count this as a semi-pitting, giving me a lifetime total of 3½. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/50 "2007-08-08T20:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] This is not America. This is the Internet. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Like I said, America. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/51 "2007-08-08T20:56:54Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] There is not only Inuktitut, there is also Inuvialuit, which is in the Western Arctic. [/QUOTE] Thue. I forgot about them. I am not an expert. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/52 "2007-08-08T21:01:00Z")
[QUOTE=Diomedes] The real important question here is why did we abandon the old spelling of Esquimaux? It lets you exercise more of those unused letters on the keyboard! [/QUOTE] Too French. We call them Freedom Eskimos now. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/53 "2007-08-08T21:07:07Z")
I still maintain that “this is hellishly complicated, everybody disagrees with/contradicts each other, it’s obscure and you’ll hardly ever use it, but it’s bloody imperative that you get it absolutely right” is not any kind of reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/54 "2007-08-08T22:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] Look, we in America (you’know, God’s Country 😃 ) don’t have anything like First Nation or First People or First Whatevers. You’re Native American if you r ancestors happened to be here a really long time ago, and your Eskimo if yer a NA who lives in Canada or Alaska. Inuit and Haida and whatnot is specific tribes. So there. 😛 [/QUOTE] Calling all Native Americans north of the US/Canada border Eskimoes is like calling anyone south of the US/Mexico border in the Americas “Mexican”. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/55 "2007-08-09T14:56:59Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] Calling all Native Americans north of the US/Canada border Eskimoes is like calling anyone south of the US/Mexico border in the Americas “Mexican”. [/QUOTE] Now don’t be silly. Everyone in America knows that people south of Mexico are Brazilian. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/56 "2007-08-09T20:42:39Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] Calling all Native Americans north of the US/Canada border Eskimoes is like calling anyone south of the US/Mexico border in the Americas “Mexican”. [/QUOTE] That is an excellent analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/57 "2007-08-09T21:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] Calling all Native Americans north of the US/Canada border Eskimoes is like calling anyone south of the US/Mexico border in the Americas “Mexican”. [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s more like calling them Brazilian. It ignores the fact that there’s a different group closer. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/58 "2007-08-09T22:01:51Z")
Wait. Wait! I am horribly, intensely, and, I’m afraid, inextricably confused. In Canada, those who in the States we referred to as “Native Americans”, “Indians”, or “Washington Redskins”, I am to call “Costa Ricans”? And those we called “Eskimos” are to be named “Falkland Islanders”? Is that it? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/59 "2007-08-09T23:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] Now don’t be silly. Everyone in America knows that people south of Mexico are Brazilian. 😉 [/QUOTE] Are there really that many of them? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823/60 "2007-08-10T01:11:31Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] I am horribly, intensely, and, I’m afraid, inextricably confused. [/QUOTE] Now that Frank’s safely in Canada, would some local Doper please sit him down and fill him in on what we secretly call Tennesseans who insist they know better than Canadians about what to call the indiginous peoples of the Canadian north? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-eskimo-inuit-1121/414823.md?page=4)