They wanted us, their descendants, to keep our tradition alive. Our ancestors were proud to be Yup’ik and were strengthened by their way of life. “If we stop using the names other people give us, they will understand. Theresa John is an Associate Professor for Indigenous Studies at UAF. Other Yup’ik elder’s however don’t like the term. Then along the way we started using the word Yup’ik to describe ourselves,” Alexie said.Īlexie is like many Yup’ik’s interviewed for this story that are accustomed to the term and have no firm position about whether it’s appropriate or not. “In my first memories we used Eskimo when referring to ourselves or each other. ![]() Nels Alexie, is a Yup’ik elder from Bethel. But Alaska Natives say they have been using the word for a while. The word isn’t used much in Canada as it’s considered offensive by many Inuit in the country. The article also says the Canadian version of the word could have come from an Ojibwa word meaning “netter of snowshoes.” An article by University of Alaska Fairbanks Linguist Lawrence Kaplan said the words original origin means “eater of raw meat” and might have been given to the Inupiaq people by western explorers. Much like the familiar face on the tail of the Alaska Airlines planes, no one seems to have a definitive answer on where the word Eskimo came from. As of Thursday afternoon, the petition had over 50 supporters. “We have culture and traditions that have been passed down for generations and I don’t believe the word Eskimo does our heritage justice.”Īfter the Alaska Airlines redesign incident, Twitchell decided to take it a step further by starting a petition asking the Bureau of Indian Affairs to stop identifying people’s ethnicity as “Eskimo” in Federal paperwork. “I would rather be called ‘Inupiaq’ because that’s what I am and my children are Yup’ik,” Blossom Twitchell, from Kotzebue, said. “I want them to be able to connect to their culture and people won’t group us in as little people that live in igloo’s and give little Eskimo kisses all the time, we are so much more than that.” The website also included the phrase “Meet our Eskimo” which was quickly changed to “Meet the Eskimo” But does the change go far enough? ![]() Both prominently feature the familiar face of a smiling Alaska Native elder. ![]() The phrase that sparked a controversy and a new round of conversations about what the word “Eskimo” means to Alaska Natives.Īlaska Airlines unveiled their new airplane and website designs late last month. (Photo by Blossom Twitchell)Īfter Alaska Airlines unveiled a new look for their airplanes and website many Alaska Natives took offense to a phrase they with their new marketing campaign. Screenshot of the Alaska Airlines redesigned greeting page before it was changed.
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