Eskimo (/ˈɛskɪmoʊ/) is anexonym that refers to two closely relatedIndigenous peoples:Inuit (including the Alaska NativeIñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and theGreenlandic Inuit) and theYupik (orYuit) of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related third group, theAleut, who inhabit theAleutian Islands, are generally excluded from the definition ofEskimo. The three groups share a relatively recent common ancestor, and speak related languages belonging to the family ofEskaleut languages.
Some Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, and other individuals consider the termEskimo, which is of a disputed etymology,[1] to be pejorative or even offensive.[2][3]Eskimo continues to be used within a historical, linguistic, archaeological, and cultural context. The governments in Canada[4][5][6] and the United States[7][8] have made moves to cease using the termEskimo in official documents, but it has not been eliminated, as the word is in some places written into tribal, and therefore national, legal terminology.[9] Canada officially uses the termInuit to describe theindigenous Canadian people who are living in the country's northern sectors and are notFirst Nations orMétis.[4][5][10][11] The United States government legally usesAlaska Native[8] for enrolled tribal members of the Yupik, Inuit, and Aleut, and also for non-Eskimos including theTlingit, theHaida, theEyak, and theTsimshian, in addition to at least ninenorthern Athabaskan/Dene peoples.[12] Other non-enrolled individuals also claim Eskimo/Aleut descent, making it the world's "most widespread aboriginal group".[13][14][15]
There are between 171,000 and 187,000 Inuit and Yupik, the majority of whom live in or near their traditional circumpolar homeland. Of these, 53,785 (2010) live in the United States, 70,545 (2021) in Canada, 51,730 (2021) in Greenland and 1,657 (2021) in Russia. In addition, 16,730 people living in Denmark were born in Greenland.[16][17][18][19][20] TheInuit Circumpolar Council, anon-governmental organization (NGO), claims to represent 180,000 people.[21]
A variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origin of the wordEskimo.[22][23][24][25][26][3] According to Smithsonian linguistIves Goddard, etymologically the word derives from theInnu-aimun (Montagnais) wordayas̆kimew, meaning 'a person who laces asnowshoe',[27][28][29] and is related tohusky (a breed of dog).[citation needed] The wordassime·w means 'she laces a snowshoe' in Innu, andInnu language speakers refer to the neighbouringMi'kmaq people using words that sound likeeskimo.[30][31] This interpretation is generally confirmed by more recent academic sources.[32]
In 1978,José Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Innu-aimun (Montagnais), published a paper suggesting thatEskimo meant 'people who speak a different language'.[33][34] French traders who encountered theInnu (Montagnais) in the eastern areas adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it asEsquimau orEsquimaux in a transliteration.[35]
Some people considerEskimo offensive, because it is popularly perceived to mean[34][36][37] 'eaters of raw meat' inAlgonquian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[28][38][39] An unnamedCree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have beenaskamiciw (meaning 'he eats it raw'); Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts asaskipiw (meaning 'eats something raw').[38][39][40][41][4][42] Regardless, the term still carries a derogatory connotation for many Inuit and Yupik.[28][38][43][44]
One of the first printed uses of the French wordEsquimaux comes fromSamuel Hearne'sA Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 first published in 1795.[45]
The termEskimo is still used by people to encompass Inuit and Yupik, as well as other Indigenous or Alaska Native and Siberian peoples.[27][43][46] In the 21st century, usage in North America has declined.[28][44] Linguistic, ethnic, and cultural differences exist between Yupik and Inuit.
In Canada and Greenland, and to a certain extent in Alaska, the termEskimo is predominantly seen as offensive and has been widely replaced by the termInuit[28][40][41][47] or terms specific to a particular group or community.[28][48][49][50] This has resulted in a trend whereby some non-Indigenous people believe that they should useInuit even for Yupik who are non-Inuit.[28]
The wordEskimo is a racially charged term in Canada.[52][53] In Canada's Central Arctic,Inuinnaq is the preferred term,[54] and in the eastern Canadian ArcticInuit. The language is often calledInuktitut, though other local designations are also used.
The termAlaska Native is inclusive of (and under U.S. and Alaskan law, as well as the linguistic and cultural legacy of Alaska, refers to) all Indigenous peoples of Alaska,[1] including not only the Iñupiat (Alaskan Inuit) and the Yupik, but also groups such as the Aleut, who share a recent ancestor, as well as the largely unrelated[57]indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and theAlaskan Athabaskans, such as theEyak people. The termAlaska Native has important legal usage in Alaska and the rest of the United States as a result of theAlaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. It does not apply to Inuit or Yupik originating outside the state. As a result, the term Eskimo is still in use in Alaska.[58][27] Alternative terms, such asInuit-Yupik, have been proposed,[59] but none has gained widespread acceptance. Early 21st century population estimates registered more than 135,000 individuals of Eskimo descent, with approximately 85,000 living in North America, 50,000 in Greenland, and the rest residing in Siberia.[27]
In 1977, theInuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) meeting in Barrow, Alaska (nowUtqiaġvik, Alaska), officially adoptedInuit as a designation for all circumpolar Native peoples, regardless of their local view on an appropriate term. They voted to replace the wordEskimo withInuit.[60] Even at that time, such a designation was not accepted by all.[28][35] As a result, the Canadian government usage has replaced the termEskimo withInuit (Inuk in singular).
The ICC charter definesInuit as including "the Inupiat, Yupik (Alaska), Inuit,Inuvialuit (Canada),Kalaallit (Greenland) and Yupik (Russia)".[61] Despite the ICC's 1977 decision to adopt the termInuit, this has not been accepted by all or even most Yupik people.[60]
In 2010, the ICC passed a resolution in which they implored scientists to useInuit andPaleo-Inuit instead ofEskimo orPaleo-Eskimo.[62]
In a 2015 commentary in the journalArctic, Canadian archaeologist Max Friesen argued fellow Arctic archaeologists should follow the ICC and usePaleo-Inuit instead ofPaleo-Eskimo.[63] In 2016, Lisa Hodgetts andArctic editor Patricia Wells wrote: "In the Canadian context, continued use of any term that incorporatesEskimo is potentially harmful to the relationships between archaeologists and the Inuit and Inuvialuit communities who are our hosts and increasingly our research partners."
Hodgetts and Wells suggested using more specific terms when possible (e.g.,Dorset andGroswater) and agreed with Frieson in using theInuit tradition to replaceNeo-Eskimo, although they noted replacement forPalaeoeskimo was still an open question and discussedPaleo-Inuit,Arctic Small Tool Tradition, andpre-Inuit, as well as Inuktitut loanwords likeTuniit andSivullirmiut, as possibilities.[64]
In 2020, Katelyn Braymer-Hayes and colleagues argued in theJournal of Anthropological Archaeology that there is a "clear need" to replace the termsNeo-Eskimo andPaleo-Eskimo, citing the ICC resolution, but finding a consensus within the Alaskan context particularly is difficult, sinceAlaska Natives do not use the wordInuit to describe themselves nor is the term legally applicable only to Iñupiat and Yupik in Alaska, and as such, terms used in Canada likePaleo Inuit andAncestral Inuit would not be acceptable.[65]
American linguistLenore Grenoble has also explicitly deferred to the ICC resolution and usedInuit–Yupik instead ofEskimo with regards to the language branch.[66][67]
Genetic evidence suggests that the Americas were populated from northeastern Asia in multiple waves. While the great majority of indigenous American peoples can be traced to a single early migration ofPaleo-Indians, theNa-Dené,Inuit andIndigenous Alaskan populations exhibit admixture fromdistinct populations that migrated into America at a later date and are closely linked to the peoples of far northeastern Asia (e.g.Chukchi), and only more remotely to the majority indigenous American type. For modernEskimo–Aleut speakers, this later ancestral component makes up almost half of their genomes.[68] The ancientPaleo-Eskimo population was genetically distinct from the modern circumpolar populations, but eventually derives from the same far northeastern Asian cluster.[69] It is understood that some or all of these ancient people migrated across theChukchi Sea to North America during the pre-neolithic era, somewhere around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.[70] It is believed that ancestors of theAleut people inhabited theAleutian Chain 10,000 years ago.[71]
The earliest positively identifiedPaleo-Eskimo cultures (Early Paleo-Eskimo) date to 5,000 years ago.[69] Several earlier indigenous peoples existed in the northern circumpolar regions of eastern Siberia, Alaska, and Canada (although probably not in Greenland).[72] The Paleo-Eskimo peoples appear to have developed in Alaska from people related to theArctic small tool tradition in eastern Asia, whose ancestors had probably migrated to Alaska at least 3,000 to 5,000 years earlier.[73]
The Yupik languages and cultures in Alaska evolved in place, beginning with the originalpre-Dorset Indigenous culture developed in Alaska. At least 4,000 years ago, the Unangan culture of theAleut became distinct. It is not generally considered an Eskimo culture. However, there is some possibility of an Aleutian origin of theDorset people,[69] who in turn are a likely ancestor of today's Inuit and Yupik.[70]
Approximately 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, apparently in northwestern Alaska, two other distinct variations appeared. Inuit language became distinct and, over a period of several centuries, its speakers migrated across northern Alaska, through Canada, and into Greenland. The distinct culture of theThule people (drawing strongly from theBirnirk culture) developed in northwestern Alaska. It very quickly spread over the entire area occupied by Eskimo peoples, though it was not necessarily adopted by all of them.[74]
English ("Welcome to Barrow") andIñupiaq (Paġlagivsigiñ Utqiaġvigmun),Utqiaġvik, Alaska, framed by whale jawbones
TheEskimo–Aleut (also known as Eskaleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan) family of languages includes two cognate branches: theAleut (Unangan) branch and the Inuit–Yupik branch.[75]
The number ofcases varies, with Aleut languages having a greatly reduced case system compared to those of the Inuit–Yupik subfamily. Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages possess voiceless plosives at thebilabial,coronal,velar anduvular positions in all languages except Aleut, which has lost the bilabial stops but retained thenasal. In the Inuit–Yupik subfamily a voicelessalveolarlateralfricative is also present.
The Inuit–Yupik sub-family consists of theInuit andYupik language sub-groups.[76] TheSirenik language, which is virtually extinct, is sometimes regarded as a third branch of the Inuit–Yupik language family. Other sources regard it as a group belonging to the Yupik branch.[76][77]
Inuit languages comprise adialect continuum, or dialect chain, that stretches fromUnalakleet andNorton Sound in Alaska, across northern Alaska and Canada, and east to Greenland. Changes from western (Iñupiaq) to eastern dialects are marked by the dropping of vestigial Yupik-related features, increasing consonant assimilation (e.g.,kumlu, meaning "thumb", changes tokuvlu, changes tokublu, changes tokulluk, changes tokulluq,[78]) and increased consonant lengthening, and lexical change. Thus, speakers of two adjacent Inuit dialects would usually be able to understand one another, but speakers from dialects distant from each other on the dialect continuum would have difficulty understanding one another.[77]Seward Peninsula dialects in western Alaska, where much of theIñupiat culture has been in place for perhaps less than 500 years, are greatly affected by phonological influence from the Yupik languages.Eastern Greenlandic, at the opposite end of Inuit range, has had significant word replacement due to a unique form of ritual name avoidance.[76][77]
The fourYupik languages, by contrast, includingAlutiiq (Sugpiaq),Central Alaskan Yup'ik,Naukan (Naukanski), andSiberian Yupik, are distinct languages with phonological, morphological, and lexical differences. They demonstrate limited mutual intelligibility.[76] Additionally, both Alutiiq and Central Yup'ik have considerable dialect diversity. The northernmost Yupik languages – Siberian Yupik and Naukan Yupik – are linguistically only slightly closer to Inuit than is Alutiiq, which is the southernmost of the Yupik languages. Although the grammatical structures of Yupik and Inuit languages are similar, they have pronounced differences phonologically. Differences of vocabulary between Inuit and any one of the Yupik languages are greater than between any two Yupik languages.[77] Even the dialectal differences within Alutiiq and Central Alaskan Yup'ik sometimes are relatively great for locations that are relatively close geographically.[77]
Despite the relatively small population of Naukan speakers, documentation of the language dates back to 1732. While Naukan is only spoken in Siberia, the language acts as an intermediate between two Alaskan languages: Siberian Yupik and Central Yup'ik.[79]
Distribution of language variants across the Arctic
An overview of the Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages family is given below:
American linguistLenore Grenoble has explicitly deferred to the ICC resolution and usedInuit–Yupik instead ofEskimo with regards to the language branch.[66]
There has been a long-running linguistic debate about whether or not the speakers of the Inuit–Yupik–Unangan language group have an unusually large number of words for snow. The general modern consensus is that, in multiple Inuit–Yupik languages, there are, or have been in simultaneous usage, indeed fifty plus words for snow.[80]
Sharing of frozen, agedwalrus meat. Inuit are known for their practice of food sharing, where large catches of food are shared with the broader community.[81]
In the 20th century theInuit diet began to change and by the 21st century the diet was closer to aWestern diet. After hunting, they often honour the animals' spirit by singing songs and performing rituals. Although traditional orcountry foods still play an important role in the identity of Inuit, much food is purchased from the store, which has led to health problems andfood insecurity.[82][83] According to Edmund Searles in his articleFood and the Making of Modern Inuit Identities, they consume this type of diet because a mostly meat diet is "effective in keeping the body warm, making the body strong, keeping the body fit, and even making that body healthy".[84]
Inuit inhabit theArctic and northernBering Sea coasts of Alaska in the United States, and Arctic coasts of theNorthwest Territories,Nunavut,Quebec, andLabrador in Canada, and Greenland (associated with Denmark). Until fairly recent times, there has been a remarkable homogeneity in the culture throughout this area, which traditionally relied on fish,marine mammals, and land animals for food, heat, light, clothing, and tools. Their food sources primarily relied on seals, whales, whale blubber, walrus, and fish, all of which they hunted using harpoons on the ice.[27] Clothing consisted of robes made of wolfskin and reindeer skin to acclimate to the low temperatures.[85] They maintain a uniqueInuit culture.
Canadian Inuit live primarily inInuit Nunangat (lit. "lands, waters and ices of the [Inuit] people"), their traditional homeland although some people live in southern parts of Canada. Inuit Nunangat ranges from the Yukon–Alaska border in the west across the Arctic to northern Labrador.
Their traditional homelands date back to over 7,500 years ago, and include areas such asPrince William Sound and outerKenai Peninsula (Chugach Sugpiaq), theKodiak Archipelago and theAlaska Peninsula (Koniag Alutiiq). In the early 1800s there were more than 60 Alutiiq villages in the Kodiak archipelago, with an estimated population of 13,000 people. Today more than 4,000 Alutiiq live inAlaska.[98]
The Alutiiq language is relatively close to that spoken by the Yupik in theBethel, Alaska area. But, it is considered a distinct language with two major dialects: the Koniag dialect, spoken on theAlaska Peninsula and onKodiak Island, and the Chugach dialect, spoken on the southernKenai Peninsula and inPrince William Sound. Residents ofNanwalek, located on southern part of the Kenai Peninsula nearSeldovia, speak what they call Sugpiaq. They are able to understand those who speak Yupik in Bethel. With a population of approximately 3,000, and the number of speakers in the hundreds, Alutiiq communities are working to revitalize their language.[99]
Yup'ik, with an apostrophe, denotes the speakers of the Central AlaskanYup'ik language, who live in western Alaska and southwestern Alaska from southernNorton Sound to the north side ofBristol Bay, on theYukon–Kuskokwim Delta, and onNelson Island. The use of the apostrophe in the nameYup'ik is a written convention to denote the long pronunciation of thep sound; but it is spoken the same in otherYupik languages. Of all theAlaska Native languages, Central Alaskan Yup'ik has the most speakers, with about 10,000 of a total Yup'ik population of 21,000 still speaking the language. The five dialects of Central Alaskan Yup'ik include General Central Yup'ik, and the Egegik, Norton Sound, Hooper Bay-Chevak, and Nunivak dialects. In the latter two dialects, both the language and the people are calledCup'ik.[100]
Siberian Yupik reside along the Bering Sea coast of theChukchi Peninsula in Siberia in the Russian Far East[77] and in the villages ofGambell andSavoonga on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska.[101] The Central Siberian Yupik spoken on the Chukchi Peninsula and on St. Lawrence Island is nearly identical. About 1,050 of a total Alaska population of 1,100 Siberian Yupik people in Alaska speak the language. It is the first language of the home for most St. Lawrence Island children. In Siberia, about 300 of a total of 900 Siberian Yupik people still learn and study the language, though it is no longer learned as a first language by children.[101]
About 70 of 400 Naukan people still speak Naukanski. The Naukan originate on the Chukot Peninsula inChukotka Autonomous Okrug in Siberia.[77] Despite the relatively small population of Naukan speakers, documentation of the language dates back to 1732. While Naukan is only spoken in Siberia, the language acts as an intermediate between two Alaskan languages: Siberian Yupik Eskimo and Central Yup'ik Eskimo.[79]
Model of an ice scoop, Alaska Native, 1900–1930,Brooklyn Museum
Some speakers of Siberian Yupik languages used to speak a divergent Inuit–Yupik variant in the past, before they underwent alanguage shift. These former speakers of theSirenik language inhabited the settlements ofSireniki, Imtuk, and some small villages stretching to the west from Sireniki along south-eastern coasts of Chukchi Peninsula.[102] They lived in neighborhoods with Siberian Yupik andChukchi peoples.
As early as in 1895, Imtuk was a settlement with a mixed population of Sireniki and Ungazigmit[103] (the latter belonging to Siberian Yupik). Sirenik culture has been influenced by that of Chukchi, and the language showsChukchi language influences.[104] Folktalemotifs also show the influence of Chuckchi culture.[105]
The above peculiarities of this (alreadyextinct) Inuit–Yupik language amounted to mutual unintelligibility even with its nearest language relatives:[106] in the past, Sireniki had to use the unrelated Chukchi language as alingua franca for communicating with Siberian Yupik.[104]
Many words are formed from entirely differentroots from in Siberian Yupik,[107] but even the grammar has several peculiarities distinct not only among Inuit–Yupik languages, but even compared to Aleut. For example,dual number is not known in Sirenik, while mostInuit–Yupik–Unangan languages have dual,[108] including its neighboring Siberian Yupikax relatives.[109]
Little is known about the origin of this diversity. The peculiarities of this language may be the result of a supposed long isolation from other Inuit and Yupik groups,[110][111] and being in contact only with speakers of unrelated languages for many centuries. The influence of the Chukchi language is clear.[104]
Because of all these factors, the classification of the Sirenik language is not settled yet:[112] Sireniki language is sometimes regarded as a third branch of Inuit–Yupik (at least, its possibility is mentioned).[112][113][114] Sometimes it is regarded rather as a group belonging to theYupik branch.[115][116]
^Goddard, Ives (1984). "Synonymy". In William C. Sturtevant (ed.).Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5 Arctic.Washington, DC:Smithsonian Institution. pp. 5–7. Cited in Campbell 1997
^Campbell, Lyle (1997).American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York:Oxford University Press. p. 394.
^Holst, Jan Henrik (May 10, 2022). "A Survey of Eskimo-Aleut Languages". In Danler, Paul; Harjus, Jannis (eds.).Las Lenguas De Las Americas - the Languages of the Americas. Logos Verlag Berlin. pp. 13–26.ISBN978-3-8325-5279-4.
^Mailhot, José (1978). "L'étymologie de «Esquimau» revue et corrigée".Études Inuit/Inuit Studies.2 (2):59–70.
^Mailhot, José (1978). "L'etymologie de "esquimau" revue et corrigée" [The etymology of "eskimo" revised and corrected].Études/Inuit/Studies (in French).2 (2).
^ab"Eskimo".American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, 2000. Bartleby.Archived from the original on 2001-04-12. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2008.
^"Eskimo Pie owner to change ice cream's name, acknowledging derogatory term".CBC News. June 19, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 25, 2020.The U.S. owner of Eskimo Pie ice cream will change the product's brand name and marketing, it told Reuters on Friday, becoming the latest company to rethink racially charged brand imagery amid a broad debate on racial injustice.
^Holton, Gary (2018). "Place naming strategies in Inuit-Yupik and Dene languages in Alaska". In Pratt, Kenneth L.; Heyes, Scott (eds.).Language, memory and landscape: Experiences from the boreal forest to the tundra. Calgary:University of Calgary Press. pp. 1–27.
^"thumb".Asuilaak Living Dictionary. Archived fromthe original on August 7, 2022. RetrievedNovember 25, 2007.
^abJacobson, Steven A. (13 November 2006). "History of the Naukan Yupik Eskimo dictionary with implications for a future Siberian Yupik dictionary".Études/Inuit/Studies.29 (1–2):149–161.doi:10.7202/013937ar.S2CID128785932.
^"Inupiatun".Alaska Native Languages. Alaska Humanities Forum. n.d. Archived fromthe original on May 10, 2021. RetrievedMay 8, 2021.Iñupiaq/Inupiaq is spoken by the Iñupiat/Inupiat on the Seward Peninsula, the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope of Alaska and in Western Canada.
^"East Prince William Sound Landscape Assessment"(PDF).Cordova Ranger District, Chugach National Forest. September 9, 2008. (= "The termAlutiiq is the Sugtestun pronunciation of the Russian-introduced name Aleut and is commonly used as a self-designation by the people of the Chugach region";Russian:Алутиик)
^"Mapping Alaska's Native languages". Archived fromthe original on January 6, 2015. (= Names derived from a combination of Russian and Native words include: Alutiiq, from the Russian word Aleut (a term something like English "Eskimo" but referring to the people of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Kodiak archipelago); plus the Russian plural suffix -y; plus the Native singular suffix -q)
^"Central Alaskan Yup'ik". Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Archived fromthe original on April 11, 2021. RetrievedApril 3, 2021.
^ab"Siberian Yupik". Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Archived fromthe original on May 8, 2021. RetrievedApril 3, 2021.
Menovshchikov, Georgy (1964).Yazyk sirenikskikh eskimosov. Fonetika, ocherk morfologii, teksty i slovar'Язык сиреникских эскимосов. Фонетика, очерк морфологии, тексты и словарь [Language of Sireniki Eskimos. Phonetics, morphology, texts and vocabulary] (in Russian). Moscow, Leningrad:Академия Наук СССР. Институт языкознания.
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