Representatives for the Edmonton Eskimos franchise travelled to Inuvik last week to talk with locals about what they think about the team's name.
Photo courtesy of Merven Gruben
The team's marketing and communications representative Allan Watt said he is working with president and CEO Len Rhodes and a consultant to compile information about what people in the North think of the Eskimos name.
"We're not talking about a name change, we're simply asking about the name," said Watt. "People are being extremely forthright with us, we're learning tons from people, it's all been very informative for us. We have lots of work to do here."
Watt said the team has received feedback from the public and politicians regarding the name, so they decided to look at what Inuit and Inuvialuit people in Canada's North think of the name.
"We said we should get on an airplane and go up and talk to some people … Inuit leaders and elders and cultural leaders who are Inuit and see how they feel about the name, and see what they have to say," he said.
Season seat holders and casual ticket holders were also asked their opinions, and focus groups have been held to look into the issue.
Last week, the representatives were in Yellowknife and Inuvik, and plan to travel to Iqaluit, Nunavut and Ottawa to talk to people there later this summer.
Watt said he isn't sure what the next step in the engagement process will be, but "we're not going to do this and then nothing."
In 2015, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada's national Inuit organization, wrote an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail expressing his stance against the team using the "outdated term Eskimos as their moniker."
In the opinion piece, Obed said the term Eskimo is a derogatory term that was imposed upon Inuit people by other groups.
He called on the owners of the Edmonton Eskimos franchise to change the team name to a non-Indigenous moniker.
Obed could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben was one of the people who met with Rhodes to discuss the team's name.
"I asked my friends on Facebook what they really thought about the name Edmonton Eskimos, and not one of the comments were negative," said Gruben. "I'm not speaking for everyone, but the majority of the people I talked to … don't really mind the name at all."
He said the word Eskimo is more recognizable to people in southern Canada than Inuvialuit.
"Every time I travel down south, I say I'm Inuvialuit, and they don't know what that is," said Gruben. "Then I say I'm Eskimo, and they say 'oh, okay, yeah.'"
Having the name Eskimo attached to a national sports team is a source of pride for some Inuvialuit, Gruben added.
Gruben said he thinks the controversy surrounding the name comes from politicians.
"[Politicians] should be working on bigger issues like housing issues and unemployment," he said. "Those are the big issues that they should be working on, not messing around with this name, leave it alone, there are better things to do."