Arctic Dreams
The word “Eskimo” is from the French Esquimaux, possibly from eskipot, an Algonquian word meaning “an eater of raw flesh.” Some Eskimos feel this attribution puts them in a poor light with modern audiences and so uses other terms for themselves. “Inuit,” the most widely used of these terms, refers specifically to Eskimos of the eastern Canadian Arctic. The Eskimos of the Bering Sea region prefer, instead, to be called “Yup’ik,” while North Slope Alaska Eskimos prefer “Inupiat,” and Mackenzie Delta Eskimos prefer “Inuvialuit.”
