Edmonton's CFL Franchise Debuts 'Elks' Nickname After Dropping 'Eskimos' in 2020

Edmonton's CFL franchise announced Tuesday its new nickname will be the Elks.

The team had previously been recognized as the Edmonton Eskimos before dropping the moniker last July in favor of the Edmonton Football Team. The move followed a similar change by the NFL's Washington Football Team, which had utilized a racist slur for Native Americans in its branding.

"We look forward to the season that is coming at us and for that, we need a name," team president Chris Presson said Tuesday. "With your input, much debate and deliberation, we came to the name that we are proud to present today."

As was the case with the Washington Football Team, Edmonton faced heightened scrutiny over its original nickname after signaling it wouldn't be making a change.

By July, the team acknowledged that "a lot has occurred" since it previously looked into the future of the nickname and that it would be "accelerating our ongoing process of review." One of the developments was a major sponsor, Belairdirect, calling into question its partnership with the organization.

The Guardian's Dave Caldwell explained how the word "Eskimo" is considered a pejorative by those within the Inuit community.

Norma Dunning, an Inuit writer and scholar, was critical of Edmonton's continued usage of the name while making what she thought to be token gestures.

"I believe this is their understanding of compromise and a show of interest in the people whose name that they continue to use is slanderous, outdated and unnecessary," Dunning said to Caldwell. "On the one hand they are saying, ‘Yep, we’re gonna keep using Eskimos, but hey, look over here, we’ll bring some Inuit kids to the south for a game!'"

Jennifer Adese, an associate professor at University of Toronto Mississauga, also explained to Caldwell that the word "Eskimo" had likely been generalized so much as to disconnect it from its reference to the Inuit community.