[ExI] War ----- It's a meme!

[BillK]

2010/11/8 Darren Greer wrote:
> (Eskimo is very culturally offensive, by the way)

That's too simplistic.  Let's have a good nit-pick!    :)

Eskimo isn't offensive in the UK or US or even in Alaska. It is a
general term for all the native people in the Arctic region.

>From Wikipedia:
In Alaska, the term Eskimo is commonly used, because it applies to
both Yupik and Inupiat peoples. Inuit is not accepted as a collective
term or even specifically used for Inupiat (which technically is
Inuit). No universal replacement term for Eskimo, inclusive of all
Inuit and Yupik people, is accepted across the geographical area
inhabited by the Inuit and Yupik peoples.
---------------------------

>From alaskanative.net:
Alaska's Native people are divided into eleven distinct cultures,
speaking twenty different languages. In order to the tell the stories
of this diverse population, the Alaska Native Heritage Center is
organized based on five cultural groupings, which draw upon cultural
similarities or geographic proximity:

    * Athabascan
    * Yup'ik & Cup'ik
    * Inupiaq & St. Lawrence Island Yupik
    * Unangax & Alutiiq (Sugpiaq)
    * Eyak, Tlingit, Haida & Tsimshian
-----------------


Some of the indigenous races would be equally offended to be called Inuit.

So, to be strictly correct, you have to find out which culture the
person you are speaking to is a member of and use that name.


BillK