Inuit

Inuit (Inuktitut syllabics, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, singular Inuk / ᐃᓄᒃ) is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Alaska, Greenland, the Canadian territories of Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the province of Quebec and the northern part of Labrador. Until fairly recent times, there has been a remarkable homogeneity in the culture throughout these areas, which have traditionally relied on fish, sea mammals, and land animals for food, heat, light, clothing, tools, and shelter. The Inuit language is grouped under Eskimo-Aleut languages.

Canadian Inuit live primarily in the Nunavut territory in Canada, Nunavik in the northern part of Quebec, and in the Nunatsiavut Inuit settlement region in Labrador. The Inuvialuit live primarily in the Mackenzie River delta, on Banks Island, and in parts of Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories. There have been Inuit settlements in Yukon, especially at Herschel Island, but there are none at present. Alaskan Inupiaq live on the North Slope of Alaska and the Seward Peninsula.

Eskimo or Inuit?

The English word Eskimo is of uncertain origin, but most likely originates from an Algonquian language. Many Inuit consider Eskimo to be pejorative because it originated with non-Inuit and is widely believed to mean "eater of raw meat." However, linguists now believe the term is derived from an Ojibwa word meaning "to net snowshoes."

The term Eskimo is considered pejorative in Canada, where the preferred term is Inuit, which means "people" or "the people" in most Inuit languages. In the "Eastern Arctic" of Canada, the language is often called Inuktitut and in the "Western Arctic" it is called Inuvialuktun, though other local designations may be used for both. The Inuit of Greenland refer to themselves as Greenlanders or, in their own language, Kalaallit, and to their language as Greenlandic or Kalaallisut.

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, representing a circumpolar population of 150,000 Inuit and Yupik people of Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, defines Inuit in its charter as including "the Inupiat, Yupik (Alaska), Inuit, Inuvialuit (Canada), Kalaallit (Greenland) and Yupik (Russia)." However, strictly speaking, Inuit refers only to the Inupiat of northern Alaska, the Inuit of Canada, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, but not to the Yupik peoples or languages of Alaska and Siberia. This is because the Yupik languages are linguistically distinct from the Inupiaq and other Inuit languages, and the peoples are ethnically distinct as well. The word Inuit does not occur in the Yupik languages of Alaska and Siberia. In Alaska, Eskimo continues to be acceptable, and is the preferred term when speaking of Inupiaq and Yupik people collectively or to all Inuit and Yupik people of the world. The term Alaska Natives is also used in Alaska and the rest of the United States, though this term is also inclusive of Aleut and American Indian people of Alaska. This term has important legal usage as a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

The term "Eskimo" is also used in some linguistic or ethnographic works to denote the larger branch of Eskimo-Aleut languages, the smaller branch being Aleut. In this usage, Inuit (together with Yupik, and possibly also Sireniki), are sub-branches of Eskimo. See details in articles Eskimo and Eskimo-Aleut languages.