The Names EskimO, Inuit, and Inupiaq/Inupiat

Abstract

Abstract The trend in English toward avoiding the name Eskimo in favor of Inuit will not prevail in Alaska, where only one of the four Eskimo language/culture groups, the Inupiat, identifies closely with Inuit. The term Inupiaq, though used in English correctly according to the native language pattern adjectively and to refer to an individual and to the language, is losing ground to the English pattern, in which one form (in this case Inupiat) fills all slots.