Every Day Is Special: Eskimo

Showing posts with label Eskimo. Show all posts

November 7 - International Inuit Day

Posted on November 7, 2020

Did you know that about 155,000 Inuit live in polar and sub-polar regions of four nations? (In case you were wondering WHICH countries, it's Canada, Russia, the United States (Alaska), and Denmark (Greenland).

Since most live in Canada, I will mention that the provinces that are home to Inuit include Northern Quebec and Labrador, and the Canadian territories that are home to Inuit are Nunavut, Yukon, and Northwest Territories.

Since the Inuit peoples are divided into so many different nations, it's harder for them to remain unified when standing up for their culture and their rights. Eben Hopson, a heavy-equipment operator and politician who was born in Alaska on this date in 1922, founded the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), which was dedicated to unifying and therefore empowering Inuit voices.

International Inuit Day is held every year on Hopson's birthday!

By the way, some organizations prefer the name "Eskimo" rather than "Inuit," but many people find Eskimo offensive. Many native or First Nation people prefer the names they use in their own languages, such as Inupiaq or Yupik.

Check out some resources on Inuit culture on BrainPOP, National Geographic, and Inuit Games and Recreation.

Also on this date:

October Revolution Day in Belarus

New Era Day in Tunisia

NOT a patriotic holiday in Bangladesh

Physicist Marie Curie's birthday

Physicist Lise Meitner's birthday

Anniversary of the collapse of a bridge

Singer Lorde's birthday

National Cat Week

(First full week of November)

Railroader Day in Mexico

Nobel winners' birthdays

Bison Day

(First Saturday of November)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:
November holidays
November birthdays
Historical anniversaries in November

And here are my Pinterest boards for:
December holidays
December birthdays
Historical anniversaries in December

June 7 - Happy Birthday, Knud Rasmussen

Posted on June 7, 2018

Today's famous birthday was called "the father of Eskimology."

Which struck me as surprising, since I thought that the word Eskimo was offensive, and that the preferable word for many native people in the northern reaches of Canada and Greenland was Inuit. And I read that Knud Rasmussen is part Inuit, so I would think that he himself wouldn't favor an offensive word.

It turns out that, like many other names for groups of people, there is no one term that is universally approved, and not all people from Arctic regions dislike the word Eskimo. I read that, indeed, many native Alaskans prefer Eskimo to Inuit, since the word Inuit isn't a part of their Yupik languages. (Inuit means "people" in some Greenlandic languages.)

That said, unless you are a native of an Arctic region, you should still avoid the word Eskimo. It really is offensive to many!

Anyway: Knud Rasmussen was a Greenlandic / Danish / Inuit man, born in Greenland on this date in 1879. Greenland was then and still is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Even though he was born and raised in Greenland, which is geographically part of North America, Rasmussen is considered a European because of his mostly-Danish parents. But he was a European who grew up playing with native Greenlanders and working with hunters who drove dog sleds and carried home their meat on sledges.

As an older teen and very young adult, Rasmussen tried to become an opera singer and an actor. Opportunities did not open up for him in the entertainment field, and when he was asked to use his dog sledding experience and his knowledge of the Kalaallisut language to help on a Danish Literary Expedition of Greenland, he jumped at the chance. After the expedition, he wrote a book and went on the lecture circuit, telling people about Inuit folklore and culture.

Other expeditions and books and lectures followed, and Rasmussen became an expert in Native Arctic peoples and geography. He also became the first European person to cross the Northwest Passage on a dog sled.

The Northwest Passage is route from Europe and the Atlantic Ocean to Asia and the Pacific Ocean - through the Arctic Ocean. It used to be really tough to do with a boat or ship because of all the sea ice, so explorers like Roald Amundsen had to time the passage carefully. Of course, Rasmussen had to be careful in the other direction - he had to make sure that there was plenty of firm ice!