Setting the Record Straight About Native Languages: What Does “Eskimo” Mean In Cree?
Q: Does the word “Eskimos” really mean “eaters of raw flesh” in Cree? A: Actually, the etymology of the word Eskimo is uncertain. Cree people today definitely associate the name with the Cree word askwa, which does mean raw meat or eggs. One Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (which means “he eats it raw,”) and the Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (which means “eats something raw.”) On the other hand, some linguists have recently suggested that this might be a ‘folk etymology’–an origin for a word which, though believed by many speakers of the language, isn’t historically true. (An example of folk etymology in English is the word ‘niggardly,’ which many people incorrectly think is related to the similar-sounding racial slur ‘nigger.’) The Cree word askimew means “he laces snowshoes,” and these linguists believe that may have been the original name the Crees used to refer to their Inuit neighbors. Either
