Eskimo

in 1977, at the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in Alaska, the term "Inuit" was adopted as a preferred designation for collectively referring to peoples of northern Canada, Greenland, Alaska, and eastern Siberia known as Eskimos. "Eskimo" has long been considered (incorrectly) to come from a term meaning "raw meat eaters." The native people of Alaska's North Slope call themselves Inupiat Eskimos and say that "Eskimo" comes from a word meaning "she laces a snowshoe" (Jean Craighead George, Julie of the Wolves ). "Aleut" is the accepted designation for people of the western Alaska Peninsula, the Pribilof Islands, and the Aleutian island chain. Those native to the Cook Inlet and interior regions of Alaska refer to themselves as "Athapaskans." Inuk (or Innuk) is the singular of Inuit (or Innuit). In Alaska, "Natives" and "Alaska Natives" are accepted terms for the Inuit, Aleuts, and Indians.