Talk:Tribes of the Arctic region

its going to take some work if this article is left in Eskimo. All of it refers to the Inuit peoples who are a subset of Eskimo. There are enough cultural differences between the groups to keep them seperate. How about moving this back to Inuit and having a Eskimo page that links to it and Aluet ? Markr 12:30, 10 November 2008 (EST)

I'm hoping for a general article on the native peoples of the Arctic - whether we call them "Eskimo" or something else. Before I intervened, the article that Inuit were the Eskimo, rather than a subset. Are we getting closer to the truth, or what? --Ed Poor ^Talk 12:41, 10 November 2008 (EST)

I would like editors to consider the title of this. By all academic sources, the Indian tribes of the Arctic region are the Inuit, the Aluet, and the Yupik. Each of these three cultures has identifiable traits in language, in religion, in diet, and in society norms and morality. "Eskimo" is not a term for any tribe, nor is it considered an academic term for the Arctic people as a whole. I would like to see this article reverted to the original "Inuit". Can I have other editor's input?--JeanJacques 12:42, 10 November 2008 (EST)(edit conflict)

• There is a certain unity in the cultures of the Eskimo groups, according to the New World Encyclopedia, a project similar to Wikipedia (and which I helped start). Why would anyone want to highlight the differences at the expense of the similarities? --Ed Poor ^Talk 08:21, 11 November 2008 (EST)

The definitions seem to change according to the age of the articles. The more recent stuff refers to the groups individually and seems distinguished by language groups. Eskimo seems to be a derogatory term (eaters of raw meat) The three remaining groups seems to be Inuit (multiple tribes) , Yupik, and Aleut. Markr 12:48, 10 November 2008 (EST)

yes. As I was saying to Ed on my talk page, there are three distinct groups of Arctic people, Inuit, alluet and Yupik... these are not the same tribes nor do they share cultures. "eskimo" is a term used by outsiders to incorrectly refer to one, or all of these people. but it is a term that has no real applicable definition or distinction. That is, standing on its own, it does not apply to any one group of people. Wiki for example, uses "Eskimo" to mean BOTH the Alaskan indigenous people and the Inuit people at large. I would far rather see 3 distinct articles. Inuit, Aluet and Yupik, but those were reverted by a senior (respected) editor.--JeanJacques 12:54, 10 November 2008 (EST)

Great page title. Thanks Ed and Mark for making this change. makes so much sense.--JeanJacques 12:55, 10 November 2008 (EST)

I support having 3 distinct articles. Our readers would be fascinated to learn that the people they've been stereotyping as "Eskimos" have distinct language and customs - in addition to sharing traits such as building igloos, wearking parkas, and cutting holes in the ice to fish or catch seals. --Ed Poor ^Talk 13:06, 10 November 2008 (EST)

Not Indians

In Canada and the U.S., Eskimo/Inuit are never considered Indians and our title is therefore a major problem. RJJensen 13:53, 10 November 2008 (EST)

good fix! RJJensen 14:26, 10 November 2008 (EST)

How ironical that "Indians" was Columbus' misnomer for native Americans of the Caribbean latitudes. Now we are saying that we can't apply that misnomer to natives of the arctic latitudes either. ;-) --Ed Poor ^Talk 14:45, 10 November 2008 (EST)