DCHP-3

Inuit

< Inuktitut inuit 'the people'
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)

Spelling variants:
Innuit,

1n. pl. — Aboriginal (Inuit)

any of several Aboriginal peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada.

Type: 5. Frequency — Inuit, the plural form of Inuk 'man', is an Inuktitut word meaning 'the people', and is used in Canadian English to refer to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada's Arctic. It may also more generally include the Iñupiat people of Alaska and the Kalaallit people of Greenland (see Alaska Native Language Center reference). Section 35 (2) of Canada's Constitution Act of 1982 lists Inuit as a separate group from Métis or First Nations (see Justice Laws Canada reference). Because Eskimo, 'raw meat eater', is a term assigned to the Inuit by the colonizers and carries negative connotations in Canada, Inuit became the replacement term after the Inuit Circumpolar Conference of 1977 (see the 2013 quotation), though the term had been in occasional use before. While Inuit is the preferred term in Canada (see Chart 1), Eskimo is still currently used in American English because Inuit as an umbrella term does not include the Yupik people of Alaska. According to the 2006 Canadian census (see Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami reference), almost half of Canada's Inuit population resides in the territory of Nunavut, which is reflected in the regional frequency of the term (see Chart 2).
See also Gage-3, s.v. "Inuit", which is marked "Cdn.".
Note the gap in the use of the word between the 1902 and the 1978 quotations, during which period Eskimo dominated the discourse.

Quotations

1774
Formerly, they were bold and impudent, and looked upon the Europeans as upon dogs, giving them the appellation, Kablunets, that is, Barbarians, but called themselves Innuit, which signifies men.
1860-1862
I do not think it can be said that any of us ate "black skin" (whale skin) and other Innuit food because we really liked it.
1860
Tookoolito informed me to-day that the words pickaninny, for infant; cooney, for wife; pussy, for seal; Husky, for Innuit; smoketute, for pipe, and many other words, are not Esquimaux, though in use among her people.
1893
At the north-west end of the island we found abundance of evidence that the Inuits (Esquimaux) had made Niountelik a stopping-place. There we saw the usual circles of stones, always to be seen where Inuits have had their tupics (summer tents).
1902
Some ethnologists consider the Innuit the once predominating race of the country, now driven to their present location by the overspreading of the various tribes of Indians. By others he is regarded as the descendant of a preglacial race of men, which, having become inured to Arctic conditions during the glacial age, now chooses these latitudes from preference. Whatever his history or origin, the Innuit is certainly a unique men of our race, and affords a good field for the study of ethnic anthropology.
1978
Small whales are harvested by Canadian Inuit for their own consumption and a few small whales are captured alive every year for display in aquaria.
1984
In the new executive these key posts are split among other native members: Nellie Cournoyea, who represents several small Beaufort Sea communities, is Minister of Renewable Resources; Tagak Curley, a prominent Inuit from the Eastern Arctic, is Minister for Economic Development, and Energy, Mines and Resources.
1995
Canada should recognize the right of Quebec natives to self-determination if the province separates, says a major study released today by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. With the sovereignty referendum likely Oct. 30 or early in November, the study's release today was expected to spark controversy in the province. The province's Inuit and Cree have already announced they will hold their own referendums on Quebec sovereignty this fall. They maintain that only they can choose whether they will join the nation of Quebec or remain in Canada.
2013
In 1977, in the belief that Eskimo is necessarily pejorative, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted Inuit as their designation for all Inuit/Eskimos, from Russia to Greenland. The Canadian government has adopted the word Inuit, as have most of the world's news media. But acceptance is not universal, and problems persist.
2adj. — Aboriginal (Inuit)

of or relating to the Inuit people or their culture.

Type: 4. Culturally Significant — See meaning 1.

Quotations

1893
Here we found also small pieces of wood, some with the ends charred, small pieces of tuktoo skins, and one relic of civilisation, a piece of an old calico dress! This did not excite us as a matter extraordinary, as I knew that the whalers now visit every year the inlet at the north known as 'Northumberland Inlet' (the 'Cumberland Straits' of Davis), and distribute freely among the Inuits various articles of civilisation, especially cast-off calico dresses that they have brought from the States or from England, which are highly prized by the Inuit women. It is rare to find at the present day a native family that does not possess something of the kind. We continued on around the island, finding every few fathoms of our progress numerous Inuit relics.
1978
Inuit hunters have found the bodies of two Frobisher Bay teen-agers missing since Dec. 22 on a hunting trip.
1984
Within the week, the newlyweds set out on a two-ton whaleboat, the Polecat, into the barren wastes of the Foxe Basin, to map the coast of the world's fifth largest island, Baffin. With them they had sleds, a team of dogs, an Inuit assistant and a year's supply of food.
1998
It is a tragedy, both human and environmental, that 19th century whaling vessels, with their vastly superior technology, destroyed the traditional Inuit whale fishery in Canada's northern waters. The great animals were extirpated from places like Hudson Bay; their vast skeletons are still visible at long-abandoned whaling stations.
2001
A poem written in the Inuit language is written underneath the painting, but what story it tells is unknown to anyone at the Museum. "I don't speak Inuit," laughs Jan Newton, the programme co-ordinator at the museum. Newton likes to bring in exhibits that serve an educative role.
2010
The Games are rife with aboriginal motifs, from the Inukshuk, a traditional Inuit symbol that adorns the official Vancouver 2010 logo, to the images on the Canadian hockey jersey.
2016
Suicide rates for Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average.
3n. — Aboriginal (Inuit)

the language of the Inuit or the larger language family of Inuit languages.

Type: 1. Origin — Inuit is part of the Eskimo branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family, along with the Yupik languages spoken in parts of Alaska and Siberia. Campbell (2000: 109) notes that Inuit is a dialect continuum of four main regions, two of which are in Canada. Inuinnaqtun, a dialect of Inuvialuktun, and Inuktitut are some of the primary dialects of these Canadian areas and are recognized as official languages in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (see Spectacular Northwest Territories and Nunavut Tourism references).
Today the Inuit language that is most familiar to the Canadian public is Inuktitut. Note that some statements from earlier periods (e.g. the 1877 quotation) are erroneous.

Quotations

1861
The word 'wich-ou,' in Innuit has two significations.
1877
Linguistically, no ultimate distinction can be drawn between the American Innuit and the American Indian.
1979
The first candle was lighted by Senator Williams Adams of Rankin Inlet, NWT, who read a message of peace in Inuit.
1983
He has discovered that the Inuit from the Aleutian Islands to Greenland varied their kayaks about as much as their dialects. He is mastering the kayaks and making an effort to speak Inuit.
1984
Equally puzzling are most of the examples given to show how Canadian English has been influenced by Quebec French and Inuit - aboiteau (a dike), inconnu (a kind of fish, presumably the one that got away) and a kuletuk (a garment resembling a parka).
2015
Was she still allowed to speak Inuit? No. Was that okay?

References

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 1 May 2014

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 1 May 2014

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 1 May 2014

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 1 May 2014