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“After an outcry from members of the Alaska Native community, Alaska Airlines has removed the line “Meet our Eskimo” and replaced it with “Meet the Eskimo” on its website, alongside the airline’s updated branding it unveiled earlier this week.
The phrase referenced a slight redesign of the iconic image on the tail of Alaska Airlines’ aircraft, an Alaska Native’s visage long referred to as the Eskimo.
“When Alaska Airlines unveiled our refreshed brand earlier this week, a reference we used, ‘Meet our Eskimo,’ offended many in the Alaska Native community, and likely others,” said Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden in a statement. “We apologize and take full responsibility for this insensitive reference.”
The company replaced “our” with “the” early Thursday morning, but the line had already touched off a discussion among Alaska Natives and others about its appropriateness and the general use of an unnamed Alaska Native as the Alaska Airlines logo.
Many Alaska Natives spoke up on social media about the use of the word “our.” Several posts on Facebook and Twitter criticized the company — alongside a screenshot of the offending phrase on the company’s website — for implying ownership over an indigenous person.
Annie Wilcoxson Wenstrup lives in Fairbanks, and is one of the Alaska Natives who penned a Facebook post on the matter.
“I want to like your new rebranding campaign,” wrote Wenstrup, a 29-year-old Athabascan, in a post that began “Dear Alaska Airlines.” But, she said, “Claiming the image of an indigenous person is troubling enough. The possessiveness of your ‘Meet Our Eskimo’ is dehumanizing.””
– Alaska Dispatch News, Alaska Airlines apologizes, removes ‘Meet our Eskimo’ phrase from website.
“Alaska Airlines didn’t get the reception it expected for its new brand update.
Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden reportedly apologized for the company’s invitation to “Meet our Eskimo” in the unveiling of the revamp. The tweaked brand, which was released this week, included a “modernized” Eskimo mascot.
“When Alaska Airlines unveiled our refreshed brand earlier this week, a reference we used, ‘Meet our Eskimo,’ offended many in the Alaska Native community, and likely others,” Tilden said in a statement, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. “We apologize and take full responsibility for this insensitive reference.”
Now, the website says, “Meet the Eskimo.””
– Fortune, Alaska Airlines Apologizes For Inviting Everyone To ‘Meet Our Eskimo’.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
