Harry Krause wrote:
Jim Carter wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote:
"Inuit" people of the far north, is like calling a black man the " N " word.


No, I didn't know that. Noted. Thanks. I would spell it Innuit, though.

Except... that isn't true. (Innuit is an older spelling that has
lost favor to Inuit since development of a modern orthography.)

Are you sure about this? Because "Eskimo" is a native American
word of Algonquian origins:

That is true, but what follows has been known wrong for 25 years
or so. I makes a good story, so everyone remembers it, and good
stories die hard.

("EskIm@U) [a. Da. Eskimo (Sw. Eskimå), ad. F. Esquimaux pl.,
from some Algonquian Indian language; cf. Proto-Algonquian *a_k-
raw, *-imo eat, Abnaki askimo (pl. askimoak), Eskimo, eaters of
raw flesh.]

Actually there are two lines of thought on what it means. Ives
Goddard (at the Smithsonian, and a linguist who studies Algonquian
language) says it means "snowshoe netters". I've never seen his
justification for that, but it is becoming the popular etymology.

However, Jose Mailhot, an anthropologist from Quebec (who
publishes in French, and is therefore little known in the US or
on the Internet) who speaks fluent Cree did a definitive study
some years back. No part of the study has ever been refuted, so
I tend to accept it as fact. She says it simply means "people
who speak a different langauge".

Mailhot, Jose, L'etymologie de *esquimau' revuew et
corrigee. In: Etudes/Inuit/Studies 2(2): 59-69.

See http://linguistlist.org/issues/7/7-300.html for more
discussion.

and there are references to a language of the same name:

Any of the several languages of this people, of which one set of
dialects or languages, also called Inupik, is spread from Norton

It should be spelled Inupiaq. They call themselves Inupiat.

Sound, Alaska, to Greenland, and another set, also called Yupik,
is in southwest Alaska and the eastern tip of Siberia. These
languages, together with those of the Aleut, form the
Eskimo-Aleut, -Aleutian family.

But I don't want to offend a fine people in any way. It's not as
if they are neoconvicts.

Rephrase:

Well, she was planning to sell Sterno to the Inuit, but she
drank it, instead.

Don't say that to anyone in Alaska, because the might laugh at
you. Even the Inupiat people (who actually are Inuit) don't use
the term Inuit.

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
...................................snip........... ...........
Don't say that to anyone in Alaska, because the might laugh at
you. Even the Inupiat people (who actually are Inuit) don't use
the term Inuit.
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Hi Floyd: What you have mentioned may be true of the Western Arctic but
not so in the Eastern Arctic. The term Inuit is used by "the people" and
they absolutely detest the name Eskimo. It is considered, by themselves,
to be a racial slur. You are very correct when you say it was probably
started by Government's and the white traders despicable treatments of the
Inuit in times past.

James D. Carter

"Jim Carter" wrote:
"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
..................................snip........... ...........
Don't say that to anyone in Alaska, because the might laugh at
you. Even the Inupiat people (who actually are Inuit) don't use
the term Inuit.
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Hi Floyd: What you have mentioned may be true of the Western Arctic but
not so in the Eastern Arctic. The term Inuit is used by "the people" and
they absolutely detest the name Eskimo. It is considered, by themselves,
to be a racial slur. You are very correct when you say it was probably
started by Government's and the white traders despicable treatments of the
Inuit in times past.

I have yet to meet a Canadian or Greenland Eskimo who actually
got upset about the term Eskimo. What they get upset about is
the attitude of *people*, not the terminology.

Every single one of them that I've met were well aware of the
proper use of the the term, and had no problem with it.

You realize of course that it is rarely ever needed in Canada or
Greenland, simply because all of the Eskimos there are indeed
Inuit.

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
"Jim Carter" wrote:
"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
..................................snip.......... ............
Don't say that to anyone in Alaska, because the might laugh at
you. Even the Inupiat people (who actually are Inuit) don't use
the term Inuit.
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Hi Floyd: What you have mentioned may be true of the Western Arctic but
not so in the Eastern Arctic. The term Inuit is used by "the people"
and
they absolutely detest the name Eskimo. It is considered, by themselves,
to be a racial slur. You are very correct when you say it was probably
started by Government's and the white traders despicable treatments of the
Inuit in times past.

I have yet to meet a Canadian or Greenland Eskimo who actually
got upset about the term Eskimo. What they get upset about is
the attitude of *people*, not the terminology.

Every single one of them that I've met were well aware of the
proper use of the the term, and had no problem with it.

You realize of course that it is rarely ever needed in Canada or
Greenland, simply because all of the Eskimos there are indeed
Inuit.

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)



I was always partial to the Tuit's. Here is one that I love:

http://tinyurl.com/3svju

"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
I have yet to meet a Canadian or Greenland Eskimo who actually
got upset about the term Eskimo. What they get upset about is
the attitude of *people*, not the terminology.

Every single one of them that I've met were well aware of the
proper use of the the term, and had no problem with it.

You realize of course that it is rarely ever needed in Canada or
Greenland, simply because all of the Eskimos there are indeed
Inuit.
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Well Floyd, I guess there are some people in the USA who don't get upset
over the term "******" but most do.
There are some people in the USA who don't get upset over the term "Eskimo"
but most of the Inuit in Canada do get upset over this usage of a term from
the past.

James D. Carter

"Jim Carter" wrote:
"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
I have yet to meet a Canadian or Greenland Eskimo who actually
got upset about the term Eskimo. What they get upset about is
the attitude of *people*, not the terminology.

Every single one of them that I've met were well aware of the
proper use of the the term, and had no problem with it.

You realize of course that it is rarely ever needed in Canada or
Greenland, simply because all of the Eskimos there are indeed
Inuit.
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Well Floyd, I guess there are some people in the USA who don't get upset
over the term "******" but most do.

There is *no* comparison between the two words. Anybody who
*doesn't* get upset about the word "******" is an asshole, just
for starters and it probably gets worse after that. That word
has absolutely *no* credible use in the English language.

There are some people in the USA who don't get upset over the term "Eskimo"
but most of the Inuit in Canada do get upset over this usage of a term from
the past.

That isn't true. And as I've noted, there is *no* word in the
English language to replace it.

Just how many Eskimos have you ever discussed this topic with?

You want to insult someone... just try telling a few Yupik
people that they really should call themselves Inuit...

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote in message
...
.................snip......
Just how many Eskimos have you ever discussed this topic with?
Floyd L. Davidson http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

Hi Floyd: I have discussed it with several Inuit at the home of my niece in
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

James D. Carter