I’m proud to be “a true Eskimo,” Nunavut MLA declares
Lorne Kusugak says he’s happy the Edmonton CFL club will keep its name
“I am proud today to be able to stand up as a true Eskimo,” Rankin Inlet South MLA Lorne Kusugak said in a members’ statement supporting the Edmonton CFL club’s decision to keep its name. (File photo)
Following a decision by the Edmonton Eskimos CFL club to keep its name, one Nunavut MLA and cabinet minister says he can’t understand why the team’s name ever became a controversy in the first place.
“Mr. Speaker, there was absolutely no offence taken to the word ‘Eskimos’ in the ‘70s, and I assure you the meaning of the word ‘Eskimo’ hasn’t changed from the ’70s to today. Everybody just needs to slow down and take a breather,” Lorne Kusugak, the MLA for Rankin Inlet South, said in a member’s statement on Thursday, Feb. 20.
This past Feb. 14, the Edmonton football club announced that, after a lengthy consultation, they’ll keep the name “Eskimos.”
That’s in reaction to a campaign that Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, launched in 2015, on the grounds that many Inuit are offended by the term “Eskimos” and do not want to be used as mascots by a professional sports team.
But Kusugak said he’s never been offended by the term.
“Mr. Speaker, I’m proud that the Edmonton Eskimos will keep the name. Everybody else who thinks it is offensive, settle down, take a valium, and don’t be so sensitive,” he said.
He explained that when he was a young boy in the early 1970s, he watched a game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Eskimos on Rankin Inlet’s first television set, even though he knew nothing about football.
After his mother sat down to watch the game with him, he asked her who she was cheering for.
“She said, ‘The Eskimos, because I’m an Eskimo too,’” Kusugak said, provoking laughter and applause from his colleagues.
So for that reason, he says he’s happy about the team’s decision.
“I am proud today to be able to stand up as a true Eskimo,” he said.
Fat cat MLA is far too clueless and/or far too removed from the marginalized that he finds it unoffensive. In saying that you do not speak for us. And as an MLA, supposedly representing people you should not tell your constituents to relax and not be so sensitive. This Doug Ford style of being a D*&K is so egotistical.
Lucky for him that the word has never been used as a racial slur against him. Growing up in the south, I was taunted by that word from my white classmates since grade school. Apparently only individual opinions matter to this football team and Inuit who use their own positive experience as justified approval of the team keeping their name shows how short-sighted we are as a collective. Personally I’m not interested in being a stereotype.
I also went thru what you did, but it was at a school in
Nunavut. My father is from Quebec, and my mother is a
First Nations women ( Algonquin ).
Experience of life has taught me that racism is everywhere,
just as goodness is everywhere.
Good for you Lorne Kusugak, Natan is probably out of a job
now. Wish he had done something about Nunavut problems.
So much to say here about the importance of good communications skills, which Lorne clearly doesn’t have. That’s too bad.
I don’t have to be MLA to be a true eskimo too.. i’m a true fan of Edmonton Eskimos!
Good for him. It is good to hear a diversity of belief rather than the approved and politically correct beliefs of others. Too many are afraid to speak their opinion due to attacks by the guardians at NTI and their ilk. I doubt we’d see such bravery from gen Z.
You didn’t mention the gatekeepers at Nunatsiaq News. they censor comments with a bias toward ‘progressive’ or PC remarks, and thus make the landscape of opinion appear a certain way. In online discourse the advantage goes to those who control the medium as this gives them control over the narrative. That said, there are huge swaths of transgressive, anti-PC thinkers among Gen Z, they are branded trolls and can be found of the dark web or on reddit, and all over facebook for that matter. Their views on the issues of PC culture are in part a product of the flaming they have taken from SJW and PC culture. There are more of them than you might realize.
You forgot to mention all the homicidal incel losers and crazed alt-right fascist white supremacists who come out of mummy’s basement to run innocent bystanders down with their trucks and do mass murders in synagogues, churches and mosques.
Yeah, those poor misunderstood online trolls. My heart just bleeds for them.
Tyrion, you complain about online trolls, but in so many ways your comment seems to suggest you are one.
Didn’t see it necessary to mention NNI guess. Their perspective and editorial slant is well known and and understood by all readers.
I don’t know what an SJW is.
What’s SJW?
Social Justice Warrior
Good on the MLA.
There is no need to fear or get hurt by Eskimo. I say I am Eskimo when a person does not know about Inuit. It has zero hurt on me.
I also eat raw meat or vegies. I don’t care what the vegan thinks.
Thank you, Lorn. Live without fear.
Agree totally.
I played rec hockey for a team called…” Cuggies”.?
Never won a game but had laughter in the dressing room.
People need to understand. It’s how they are raised. As racist or bullies. If they did not use Eskimo as a forum of bullying they would have use another tactic. Eskimo is not a bad word. Good on Mr MLA
Good for Lorne. About time some politician had the courage to speak up about how not everything is worthy of outrage.
AT least Mr K has the balls to identify himself and his comments unlike the anonymous critics here.
Have a criticism of someone for their opinion, then have the balls to identify yourself instead if hiding behind your mother’s skirt.
Use of your “real name” is such an irrelevant point. From what I can see, it does not add anything to the quality of ones thoughts.
Cheers from another? Eskimos fan. Loved the name since residential school and cheered them on.
Let’s ask the Edmonton Eskimos’ to change to Edmonton Inuk or Edmonton Inuit. For those offended by Edmonton Eskimos.
No. Don’t. Please. Love the Eskimos.
So why not Edmonton Itqiliit?! 😉
People don’t get it. Eskimo is a Cree word meant as derogatory aimed at Inuit. It is an insult directed at Inuit in a dehumanizing way as eaters of raw meat that was meant in a disgusting way.
It is not an Inuit word.and never has been. Never in Inuit history at any time before. And it shouldn’t be today either. Nor accepted.
When Cree Indian guides led new comers north for trade/expeditions the Indians referred to Inuit as “Eskimo’s”. Their word as a description by Cree Indians meant to be insulting Inuit. In hatred. It is their word and term as viewing Inuit as the enemy and a people that are “less than” the Cree. Which view Inuit as the enemy since time immemorial. Indians killed Inuit. That is where Eskimo comes from.
Like the word Indian is of when traders-explorers came to North America that knew of India called the East Indians, “Indians”. Thus, when they came to North America they called the Native Nations as, “Indian”. It stuck.
In the north, Eskimo was then used and adopted the term used by Cree by the new comers north, to refer to Inuit as Eskimo’s. It was then often used to call Inuit Eskimos by traders coming north.
Inuit unknowing accepted being called Eskimos by the new comers. That is how the word came north. And that is how whites and then the rest of the world started to know Inuit as Eskimos not knowing the origin of the word. Inuit just accepted new comers word of it to identify Inuit.
Older generations of Inuit accept and sadly thought it was the new comers word to call Inuit that and adopted it as an “Institutionalized” identifier.
It was originally used by another Native group to belittle another that they hated. It was meant along the same lines as using the “N-word” to call African Americans as an insult.
It was never in Inuit Language nor ever used as a self identifier. Nor should ever be.
So many misinformed, uneducated people taking pride in a bad connotation directed at a once proud people accepting being called that insulting word. Misinformed.
How blind and misled do the Inuit have to be to proud to be Eskimo? It is just wrong!
Get educated on it. CLEY and Language Commissioner’s Office should get to the bottom of it in a straight fact finding mission in exchange with Cree Linguistics of the origin of the term. Eskimo is not and never was a Inuit word as an identifier of The People. A once proud people. Still today proud to be Eskimo…truly a sad day in year 2020. Simple!
It truly is a sad time in history to be this misinformed and misled. To be proud or be Eskimo.
For those misinformed, misunderstood and misled. “Eskimo” is a Cree term used in a derogatory, vile, hatred or insult towards Inuit historically by Crees. It’s their language.
It is not nor ever have been used by Inuit as self identification. It was foreign to Inuit. It is not even a Inuktitut term as it does not come from Inuit but is Cree. It is a fact.
The Cree used it to identify Inuit their enemies as “less than” themselves since time immemorial. Meant in disgust as vile eaters of raw meant in the most disliked way.
They used it when they guided new comers or traders to Inuit lands in describing Inuit to the new comers. New comers adopted it to describe Inuit in general. Traders, Missionaries, Residential Schools and the Hudson’s Bay used it when in contact really unknowingly it was meant as a most insult.
Older generations accepted being called Eskimos by the new comers. Thinking the new comers call them that. It stuck with little regard of its true intended meaning. So it became a norm and misguided people accepted being called Eskimo.
So very sad in 2020 a once truly proud People come to accept and defend being Eskimo’s. A foreign word meant akin to the “N-word” for African Americans.
So very misguided, misled, misinformed and ignorant to be accepting of such a word. And to be proud of it. Even defend it. The poor uninformed are proud of a foreign term meant in disgust. Get educated on it.
I played hockey for fun and our team name? “CUGGIES”????
“Everybody else who thinks it is offensive, settle down, take a valium, and don’t be so sensitive,” he said.
.
A little cavalier of the MLA to recommend that people turn to prescription drugs when they get offended by racial slurs, especially with the scope and extent of legal and illegal drugs in Nunavut.
Actually it was insulting, arrogant, smug, and disrespectful. Unparliamentary and unprofessional comment to belittle and condescend people on an issue to debate the recognizing of proper, correct and adequate title of identifier of a race of people. Especially of an identifier given, labelled and established by another Indigenous Nation of another and being so openly accepted. A little professionalism is in order. Disengaging by a so called “Leader”.
“No Eskimo” I think then in all your hate for being referred as an eater of raw meat (which you are) and your dislike for identifiers, you might want to also object to the Inukititut word you use for whites . Lets see what is it now that Inuit call us? Something to do with bushy eyebrows? As Mr K suggests relax and take a valium. You are equally as offensive with your identifiers. We today don’t find eskimos or use of the word as a way of hating anyone. We grew up with it and non residents don’t believe it is offensive just as your indentifier of us is accepted as being good spirited. Most of us living in Nunavut recognize that it is a Cree word, but also recognize that the true identifier here is inuk or inuit. I suggest you let the inuit who want and like to be referred to as Eskimos, do just that. Thousands in Alaska can’t be wrong.
I’m sure you can start a Paul Murphy Qaplunaaq’s Pro Sports Team .
Caucasians T-shirt:
https://www.thestar.com/sports/2014/07/29/caucasians_tshirt_mocking_cleveland_indians_becomes_hot_seller_on_reserves.html
“The Murphs” Go Murphs Go!
Thousands are wrong. Even by who they elected.
In 1977, on the erroneous supposition that the word Eskimo was pejorative, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted Inuit as their designation for all Inuit/Eskimos, from Russia to Greenland. However, the word Inuit has never been universally accepted as the generic word for people across the North, and certainly not in Alaska.
The definitive negating authority for any Amerindian origin is R. H. Ives Goddard III, senior linguist in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Here’s his conclusion:
“In spite of the tenacity of the belief, both among Algonquian speakers and in the anthropological and general literature…that Eskimo means ‘raw-meat eaters’, this explanation fits only the cited Ojibwa forms (containing Proto-Algonquian *ashk- ‘raw’ and *po- ‘eat’) and cannot be correct for the presumed Montagnais source of the word Eskimo itself….”
I believe the word Eskimo originated in Europe and that it’s a modification of the ancient Greek word kimeroi, used by the poet Homer to describe people of the far North. I submit that the word Eskimo is not pejorative, and that Inuit should accept its use with pride. It was the foundation for international acceptance of Eskimo art.
Fascinating comment, Colin. Thanks for taking the time to share this. I wish our local media would put as much effort into to the information they put out.
Still wrong to use Eskimo. This only after Eskimo term was standardized by adopting a description of derogatory term that became the norm worldwide. In today’s reality and correctness the educated and world population cane to accept Eskimo. Same truth that hinders facts that it even became academic.
Proud to be profoundly colonized?
As a person of European and Inuit blood, I would like to ask
you what would you replace colonization with ?
A lot of races of people on this Earth have been colonized by
so many different cultures, it is no longer an issue with them.
If you truly want to live in your own way what is stopping
you ?
Something like this was tried in the 1970’s, but most of the
people came back to their settlements demanding their houses
back, but they had been allocated to other needy people.
So what would you have ?
I am sure the GN would be helpful. Hopefully.
That’s good kusugak is proud to be an eskimo. He is ‘old school’ and hasn’t adapted & evolved with the changing times. Most Inuit prefer to be called Inuit. An ethnic reference that Inuit gave to themselves vs. some derogatory reference given to them by the Cree many many moons ago. Btw. I doubt the Cree of 2020 refer to themselves as indians.
You are correct the Cree and other Indigenous Nations refer to themselves by their own identity the correct way. You are correct they do not call themselves Indians and use their own true identity in their language.
If you are so offended do not eat raw meat or fish. Because it hurts you too much. Do not do the things that hurt you.
Eskimo is not even a true word. It does not emphatically mean eater of raw meat. Some people think it is a twisted attempt to call them, those who snowshoe. So do not even snowshoe. Do not hurt yourselves.
When you teach, teach with the best knowledge that can be found.
It was a term used negatively, in my lifetime. We stopped using certain words that Africans were called. This is the same.
Mr. Kusugak’s comments in the legislature last week are neither a reflection of his responsibility as an elected representative in Nunavut or Canada, his deep insight into his electorates’ preferences, nor his personal “Eskimo pride”. I believe it is imperative that Mr. Kusugak apologize sincerely and then resign from his position as an MLA (or be removed). To that point:
“Mr. Speaker, I’m proud that the Edmonton Eskimos will keep the name. Everybody else who thinks it is offensive, settle down, take a valium, and don’t be so sensitive,”
The legislature is not Mr. Kusugak’s platform to spout advice for anyone who is opposed to his personal opinions on any matter; nor to dispense advice that is clearly outside his field of expertise. In fact, if Mr. Kusugak has a field of expertise, I have not seen any evidence of same. Nonetheless, each word of Mr. Kusugak’s comment above is indicative of some experience in bullying, of the most nefarious kind.
“[My mother] said, ‘[I’m cheering for] The Eskimos, because I’m an Eskimo too,’” … “So for that reason, he says he’s happy about the team’s decision.”
Is this the depth of Mr. Kusugaks’ critical thinking? Is this what supports his contributions to government files and upholds his social status with his local, ministerial and legislative colleagues? If so, I wonder about the policies that have come from the expertise and attitudes underlying those contributions. (By the way, we are not going to stack Mr. Kusugak’s Mom against mine. Mine was the epitome of quality and I’ll proffer that Mr. Kusugak’s was also.)
“I am proud today to be able to stand up as a true Eskimo”
Nothing that I can see in Mr. Kusugak’s comments reflect what it means to be a ‘true Eskimo’, nor a true legislator in democracy.
“Kusugak said, provoking laughter and applause from his colleagues.”
Finally, the school-yard troupe that aligned itself with Mr. Kusugak need reflect a little bit themselves. Let’s hope the Premier wasn’t part of the belittling snickering posse.
A club’s nickname is appropriate when it is a reflection of a team’s intrinsic values and ethics, its home geography and geology. Sometimes it can be linguistically cute as we often see with alliteration. To assume identity, values or ethics of any group is at best patronizing and dismissive, regardless of the underlying motive. At worst it is condescending, derogatory and oppressive. I’d suggest that support of those latter attitudes is also aligned, or extremely naïve.
As someone else suggested, neither Inuit nor Eskimo is appropriate for the Edmonton football club’s nickname – nor more so then would be Negros or n88888s, Chinamen or C7777s, Pakistanis or P5555s, Ukranians o K4444s
Mr. Kusugak need not resign. He need not be fired. This is just a big huff over a fart. Come on. All that needs to happen is for a few people to get over a hurt that is 30 years old.
I don’t know much about sports but I think when a team tries to come up with an inspiring name for themselves, they try to think of the strong, the powerful, the honourable, etc. to give the team a sense of pride and inspiration to do their best to win in a fair way or lose with grace and dignity. As for people being offended by the word Eskimo, I have no comment at this time. I can only comment about myself, my mother and my brother: we have never been offended by it, even if, at some point in history, it was used as a derogatory term. Or even today: if someone says a racist comment such as “oh, those Eskimos…etc”, for me, the comment is not racist because they used ‘Eskimo’ instead of ‘Inuk’ or ‘Inuit’. The comment is racist, period, because it is meant to be racist. For me, that comment is EQUALLY as racist if they said “oh, those Inuit…etc”. Returning to the topic of the Edmonton Eskimos: I have always been proud that they chose to be inspired by us. Never did I ever think that they meant to be racist towards us by using that name for themselves.
“I don’t know much about sports but I think when a team tries to come up with an inspiring name for themselves, they try to think of the strong, the powerful, the honourable, etc. to give the team a sense of pride and inspiration to do their best to win in a fair way or lose with grace and dignity.“
Give me a break. Here’s a bit of history: Calgary and Edmonton sports teams were rivals back in early 1900s and they each used crappy nicknames to insult the other’s home town. Calgary called EE that as an insult to how far “north” they were and how cold it was. There’s nothing in the origin of the name that has any positive aspects, only what people layer on top as their reason why they support the name while further dividing us. Even as recently as 1963 they used happy little Eskimo caricatures in their promo materials. How you can be on board with being used as a mascot, an entire part of the human race, is beyond me. Makes me think you’re just seeing what you want to see.
I see the passion on the issue of the EE name and I have nothing to say about the feelings of others. I prefer to speak only for my own feelings and perspectives but if you or other people want to ridicule my pride to be Inuk, or my feelings and perspectives, that is the path you choose to take. I have seen way too many examples (not this EE example, to be clear) where I see people making accusations of racism where there is no racism. When people see anything bad where there is nothing bad, that is unfortunate and sometimes the crux of the problem. I have seen false accusations that are hurtful, unproductive or even destructive. This is what causes division. Thank you for that bit of history, as someone who admittedly knows nothing about sports, I appreciate that. The more information we can share in a civil way (ie without being accompanied by ridicule, which, by the way I am not too bothered about because I have far bigger issues to worry about), the better for everyone involved.
I am black. I cheer for the New Zealand All Blacks. Political correctness has become too vindictive. Visible minorities are not monolithic. Each of us still have our individual voices. Good for Lorne for speaking for himself. By Natan speaking for others, he inadvertently took away their voices which was not his intention.
There is no need for Mr. Kusugak to resign. The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut guarantees freedom of speech for all elected members and they are allowed to use members’ statements to express views on any issue they want to speak out on as long as they follow the rules of the house.
Personally, I suspect that on this issue, Mr. Kusugak’s stated view on this issue is supported by most of his constituents in Rankin Inlet. Given all the applause he received, I suspect he is also supported by a majority of his colleagues in the Legislative Assembly.
Small picture: The Eskimo name.
Big Picture: People being used as mascots.
Lorne has identified his range of vision…
Some people are clearly honoured by that “big picture” item. So…? Maybe your vision is limited too?
Is the intention of the sports club for some people to be clearly honoured?
Well, we can be sure that it is not to disparage of “oppress’ them. They are obviously trying to associate with something venerable.
The EE mascots: a polar bear and a football. Why don’t we hear about other complaints about teams who have actual humans as mascots? Could it be because people realize it is not something to be offended by, and it is actually something to be proud of?
Are you kidding?
ITK’s request to remove the E name is centered around the #NotYourMascot movement that is ALL about Indigenous people taking offense to teams using other “actual humans” as mascots.
It’s offensive and nothing to be proud of.
You can see it in the stereotypical actions of the fans that include tomahawk chops, fake headdresses and red face paint.
What irks me about these “It doesn’t bother me” statements is that they come from people who claim they are lucky enough to have not experienced the racism that many Inuit have shared countless examples of!
It’s like saying that because I’m not a female reporter, FHRITP is a joke and anyone who gets offended by it should just take a valium and get over it. Because as long as there are people who are not targeted and have only experienced good things while being interviewed on camera, that nobody should be offended. Even though the impact of anti-social behavior on the people who are targeted is very real and can be dangerous and scary.
Phew.
Close call.
I ALMOST cared about other people! Having empathy is so weak.
First, thank you for noting the ‘not your mascot movement’, I was not aware of that and I apologize for my ignorance. Second, I certainly have experienced racism as an Inuk, so your assumptions regarding my experiences with racism are wrong. Third, I dare not comment to the effect of other people’s experience of racism, or feelings of any kind, as a joke. I just think there are better things to spend time on, such as housing, nutrition, education, employment, mental health, trauma, etc (hence my ignorance about the not your mascot movement for which I apologize again).
The issues of housing, nutrition, education, employment, mental health and trauma are certainly important, but it is myopic to stop at just these.
Addressing systemic racism in this country will impact how all of the above hurdles are equalized. Racism is a barrier to Inuit becoming full participants in economic growth and development globally.
Yes, I certainly agree it would be myopic to stop at those issues and that systemic racism needs to be addressed. Nothing I said negates this.
You said “I just think there are better things to spend time on..,” which indicated to me that you don’t think working hard to address racism is worthwhile.
Spending time addressing the big picture has an impact on all of the “better things” that must be addressed.
Yes indeed, spending time addressing the big picture certainly does have an impact on many things that can be addressed. I agree with you there. Racism certainly is a “big picture” item, but part of that big picture is the fact that unfortunately, some people see racism where there is none. I’ve seen this happen in so many other examples, in areas of life completely different and nothing to do with sports. I am bi-racial, believe me: I’ve seen accusations of racism turn out to be completely false and I’ve seen accusations turn out to be completely accurate. I’ve seen this happen with other kinds of accusations as well, not just racism. Some people see malice where there is none. I don’t know much about sports, but I thought sports was about coming together to play the game, in good faith, no matter who you are or where you come from. To me, racism or malice does not seem to fit in that picture, especially if you add to that the desire for professional teams to market themselves and paint themselves in a good light with good sportsmanship. I realize now more than ever that I am very much an outsider on this topic, given my ignorance about sports. But I am certainly not an outsider with respect to racism. You have no idea how much racism has hurt me and my loved ones, and so many other people that I care about on so many different levels. You have no idea how much work I have done to address racism, not only with my loved ones, but with other people as well.
Objection is not to be confused with offense.
What is there to be proud of? Should Inuit also be proud of the ice cream dessert, candies and ice fishing tents that also bear the Eskimo name?
That’s up to them, not you. Are you starting to understand that yet?
Thank you Raven, for your thoughtful response, i appreciate it because it makes me think a bit more about “should” and it makes me articulate my thoughts a bit more clearly. As an example, even if I feel proud (not “honoured” like some of the comments here) whenever i see anything that has “eskimo” on it (yes, even ice cream), that does not mean that I think all Inuit “should” feel proud too. If I find some Inuit who are neutral about “eskimo”, that seems natural. There are many things in our existence that seems ok for people to have opposite preferences, as people are different (vivre la difference!). But I find it so interesting that there are extreme polar opposites with seemingly equally passionate feelings about this topic on either end. I just wish some of this passion could be used for things like homelessness, education, employment, nutrition, mental health, child care, etc.
Look. Over 50 comments. Yes.
Anybody hurting about baving to speak English to post?
You have to. If a word hurts you terribly, seek help.
The powef of hate can make your life miserable.
Meanwhile, those that called Inuit that derogatory term in their language, are laughing on the floor.
To No Eskimo, what gives you the right to set yourself up as a moral authority on this issue and tell people they are flat out wrong, as you have done above? You can decide how you feel about the word Eskimo, but you don’t get to decide how others should feel about it. State your opinion, but you’re not above everyone else here.
No authority just common sense and educated on the subject. But if you choose to be an Eskimo go ahead. However, Southern Nations that labelled Inuit are probably being entertained by those willing to be an Eskimo. Laughing. If your lack of pride and identity needs to given to you by another Indigenous Group than all the power to you. Deserved to be an Eskimo under the circumstances. Newer generations are informed and can see and understand the reality. Go ahead and enjoy being an Eskimo.
I am Inuit and proud of it. I am not eskimo. If kusugak proud to be called eskimo good for him. His choice. Don’t get mad if people call him eskimo.
Here is what is totally wrong. Persons who were so hurt by having been called names but now they can abuse another person by calling them by a hurtful monikor.
If Eskimo hurts, why does Fat Cat NOT? Can you see how twisted that is?