The CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos reportedly will change their name

“In a time when we still struggle to be heard, where there is vast indifference to our socio-economic condition, where we still fight for acceptance and respect from Canadians every day, dominant society continues to use us, a minority indigenous people, as their mascots for their sports entertainment,” Obed continued.

“Allowing this practice is a fundamental departure from how we wish to be treated in all other conversations we have with Canada.”

Recent events seem to have spurred the team into action. The death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police sparked a social-justice movement that has spread beyond American borders. On Monday, after decades of pressure, Washington’s NFL team announced it would change its name.

The CFL team has maintained that a majority of Canada’s indigenous population supports the nickname, doing so as recently as Wednesday during the club’s annual general meeting.

“We began our research and engagement program three years ago because we believed that it was of utmost importance to have input from the Inuit regarding our name,” Janice Agrios, chairwoman of the community-owned team’s board of directors, said during the meeting. “The research revealed that 78 percent of the western Arctic Inuit oppose the team changing [it]. In Nunavut, where we are still working on building our relationships, 55 percent of Inuit oppose a change. … In the eastern Arctic, where the results identified little connection to the team, 31 percent of Inuit oppose a name change.”

On July 3, the team announced it would keep the nickname after “an extensive year-long formal research and engagement program with Inuit leaders and community members across Canada.” But financial pressure may have forced its hand. On July 7, the Belairdirect insurance company, which sponsors a raffle held at Edmonton home games, announced it would end its association with the team unless it changed its name. In response, the team issued a statement saying it takes the issue seriously “as has been demonstrated by the three years we’ve spent engaging in Canada’s north and conducting research related to our name.”

“We recognize that a lot has occurred since this information was gathered, and as a result, we are accelerating our ongoing process of review,” the statement continued. “We will be seeking further input from the Inuit, our partners and other stakeholders to inform our decisions moving forward. We’ll continue to listen carefully and with an open mind. We intend to complete our review as quickly as possible and will provide an update on these discussions by the end of this month.”

On Wednesday, however, Sports Book Direct — Edmonton’s official online casino and gaming partner — also demanded that the team change its nickname, which has been in place since its inception in 1949.

Warren Moon, the Pro Football Hall of Famer who began his professional career in Edmonton and led the team to a record five straight Grey Cup titles, said he wasn’t surprised at the news, though he also seemed not to have any problem with the nickname.

“Just because of the … environment that we’re living in right now, it’s probably best to go ahead and make the change even though the name Eskimos to me just means pride and it means winning,” he told TSN. “[If] it’s a name that’s going to be insensitive to another group of people then that’s something that we should really be concerned about.”