Inuit Circumpolar Council - Background

Background

The Inuit population includes the following groups and regions:

  • Canada: Nunavut, the Inuvialuit (Northwest Territories), Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut (Labrador)
  • United States (Alaska): the Inupiat and Yupik
  • Greenland: the Kalaallit
  • Russia (Chukchi Peninsula): the Siberian Yupik

All of these peoples are sometimes collectively referred to be the exonym Eskimo, the use of which is frowned upon by many of the Inuit, especially in eastern Canada. ICC uses the term Inuit to refer to them all, which has its own problems. One of those problems is administrative: an Inuk in the United States could be considered "Native American," "Alaskan Native or "Aboriginal American. The Yupik of both Alaska and Russia generally dislike being called Inuit, which is not a word in the Yupik language nor a word which they use to describe themselves, and prefer Yupik but will tolerate Eskimo.

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