On Monday, the Edmonton Eskimos tweeted a statement of support for those protesting Black racism around the world.
“We seek to understand what it must feel like to live in fear of going birding, jogging or even relaxing in the comfort of your home,” the statement read in part.
“We stand with those who are outraged, who are hurt and who hope for a better tomorrow.”
As of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the tweet had over 1,000 replies. Many of them called on the club to change its name, including a tweet from Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq.
“The injustices for individuals that are racialized is horrible,” she wrote. “I stand with our black friends across the boarder (sic).
“If you really ‘seek to understand,’ start by changing your team name. Stop feeding into stereotypes and offensive names. We are NOT (sic) a mascot.”
https://twitter.com/MumilaaqQaqqaq/status/1267476927150985218
While appearing on the Ryan Jespersen Show on 630 CHED on Wednesday morning, Qaqqaq said the team name has started to create a divide in the Inuit community between those who want it changed and those are fine with it.
She said that for the Eskimos to continue using the name, it allows for spaces for disagreement.
“Which in my mind is wrong,” she continued.
LISTEN BELOW: Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq joins the Ryan Jespersen Show
Qaqqaq says she gets questions from people in her community who don’t understand why she’s so focused on the issue, saying its minor for what they already face.
For her, that’s the point.
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“If we can’t even get a football team to respect us enough as a group of people, then how can we expect to actually get respect elsewhere if this term Eskimo is going to keep on being used?“
In February, the Eskimos released the findings of a year-long research program that saw them travel to Canada’s north to speak with stakeholders.
Those findings said the team would be sticking with the name but would work to increase its engagement with northern communities.
On Wednesday, in a statement to 630 CHED, the team reiterated that promise.
“As previously announced we will continue to engage on this matter going forward,” the statement read.
“As a team with a long history of community building, we stand opposed to violence and are saddened by the events occurring across the United States.”
Right now that engagement process is paused due to travel and other restrictions put in place during the novel coronavirus pandemic. To date, the Eskimos visited schools in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktukand hosted the Youth Service Award winners in October 2019 and participated in the Inuvik Sunrise Festival in January.
According to the club, they also had players and other representatives visit Normal Wells — a town in the Northwest Territories — in early March.
“You say you went around and you talked with a bunch of people, but who did you actually meet with and who actually said what?” Qaqqaq asked. “Because I don’t think that things are communicated very clearly in what they call a consultation that they’ve done. I don’t think that’s even transparent.”
Qaqqaq is asking the club to make the call on whether to change the name an Inuit decision, and an Inuit decision only.
“My point is, is that we are not a mascot. It feeds into so many other things, like the idea that you can dress up as an Eskimo for Halloween is the stereotypes that continue to be very alive and to breathe every day, unfortunately, across the country.“
The debate around the team name is one that has been ongoing for years but was hotly contested in November 2017. After Winnipeg’s mayor suggested Edmonton’s CFL team should have a more “inclusive” name, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson called for a “conversation” around the name. According to a poll about a week later, 12 per cent of Albertans surveyed said the name was unacceptable.
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