[troutman]

Originally Posted by nik-

I don't think Eskimo is derogatory, just incorrect.

The Redskins still rule the roost for racist team names.

http://www.native-languages.org/iaq23.htm

Cree people today definitely associate the name with the Cree word askâwa, 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 '#####rdly,' which many people incorrectly think is related to the similar-sounding racial slur '######.') 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.

In any event, regardless of the name's origins, many Inuit people do not like the word "Eskimo" today.