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The Edmonton Eskimos are not changing their name, despite backlash

Outside the Edmonton Eskimos’ locker room at BC Place during an away game at our stadium VS our BC Lions.

 Outside the Edmonton Eskimos' locker room at BC Place during an away game at our stadium VS our BC Lions. Photo Bob KronbauerOutside the Edmonton Eskimos’ locker room at BC Place during an away game at our stadium VS our BC Lions. Photo Bob Kronbauer

Officials from the Edmonton Eskimos Canadian Football League club went on a tour of northern communities to discuss the team’s name last week.

Marketing vice-president Allan Watt says the idea is to hear what northerners think about a name that some say disrespects Inuit people.

“We talk about our name and we talk about where we fit in with what they’re trying to do, community-wise,” he said from Inuvik, N.W.T.

Watt and team president Len Rhodes visited Yellowknife, N.W.T., on Tuesday. The two plan to visit Ottawa — a city with many Inuit — and Iqaluit, Nunavut, later in the summer.

Some Inuit leaders say the term Eskimo, which means “eaters of raw meat,” is derogatory and was given their people by others. They say it’s a relic from days when northern Indigenous people had no control over their fate or even the name by which they were known.

“Inuit are not monikers. Inuit are not mascots,” said Natan Obed, head of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada’s national Inuit group. Obed raised the issue three years ago.

Today the team's CEO told CBC that "Right now, at this point in time, we have no plans to change our name."

The team is doing consultations into next year, so the name just might change yet.