Esk*** is a slur

Eskimo is a commonly used word to describe ethnic peoples located in Alaska, Greenland, and other Arctic places. What many people don’t realize, is that the word is a slur. The word is considered derogatory to indigenous people because it was used by white people and racist, non-native colonizers, in aggressive, abusive ways. Native Alaskans emphasize the importance for proper communication and terminology regarding their ethnicity. In Alaska, the indigenous peoples fall into five main categories, but there are more. Aleuts are the indegenous peoples of the aleutian islands, Iñupiats occupy the northern, arctic Alaska. The Yuit peoples are indigenous to southern Alaska. Athabaskans occupy the interior of Alaska, Tlingit and Haida occupy the southeast coastal shore, and the Yup’ik/Cup’ik occupy the southwest of Alaska. An indigenous Alaskan from each of these much prefers being called by their actual name, rather than Esk***. If you meet a native Alaskan, instead of calling them an esk***, ask them what their ethnicity is, and they would be more than happy to tell you and even share some stories from their culture! In my last blog I wrote about honoring Native Alaskan elders, and the importance of listening and honoring them. It’s worth noting that one certain way to upset an elder is to call them an esk***, unless you are also indigenous to Alaska.

If you don’t know an Alaskan’s geographical location, and don’t know how to refer to their ethnicity, language such as ‘Indegineous Alaskan’ or ‘Native Alaskan’ is perfectly okay to refer to them as! Using language such as esk*** is derogatory, and is not acceptable to use when referring to Native Alaskans. Indigenous Alaskans have faced a lot of difficulties. Indigenous Alaskan women are the most oppressed group in the nation, and indigenous Alaskans in recent history were sent to ‘boarding schools’ where their cultures were forcibly taken away. Americans have a history of dishonoring Indigenous Alaskans, and because of the pain we’ve caused them, it’s worth being very diligent about how we choose to treat others. Many, many indigenous Alaskans have strongly asked and requested for people to stop using the word esk***, as when non-native people use it, it is very derogatory to them. In recent history, there was a viral social media campaign titled “Eskimo is a slur”, and it was shared by over 12,000 people.

Many people have no clue how offensive the term is, because in many public schools they are taught to call Indigenous Alaskans by that title. In a conversation I had with an indigenous woman in Alaska, I asked her why they found the term so offensive. The response she gave me was, “Well, would you say the N-word? It’s the same thing! Some indigenous Alaskans allow other native Alaskans to refer to themselves as eski***, but apart from that it’s an unacceptable term to use.” This conversation really opened up my eyes to how the word is taken by indigenous peoples. I would have never equated those two terms, but to indigenous Alaskans, calling them an esk*** would be equivalent to calling an African American person the n-word. It’s for all of these reasons that we should all strive to use the proper language, and to treat Indigenous peoples with respect.