Edmonton’s CFL team dropping use of name ‘Eskimos’
Posted July 21, 2020 3:13 pm.
The Edmonton Eskimos will change their name.
The CFL squad makes the move following a similar decision by the NFL’s Washington team as pressure mounts on teams to eliminate racist or stereotypical names.
The team said in a release it will begin “a comprehensive engagement process” on a new name. In the meantime, the club will use the names EE Football Team and Edmonton Football Team.
The decision comes less than a week after two published reports said the team was on the verge of changing its name.
Critics say the Edmonton team’s name is a derogatory, colonial-era term for Inuit.
In February, the Edmonton club announced it was keeping the name following year-long research that involved Inuit leaders and community members across Canada. The club said it received “no consensus” during that review.
