Tanya Tagaq Takes Aim at Eskimeaux over Band Name

"Canadians should show them how much they appreciate hipster bands using slurs to sell music"

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Apr 14, 2017

Never one to shy away from making her opinion heard, Tanya Tagaq is once again taking to social media to voice some serious complaints. This time, it involves Brooklyn indie project Eskimeaux.

For a decade, American singer-songwriter Gabrielle Smith has used the name Eskimeaux for her musical project. However, the celebrated Inuk throat singer has now launched a campaign of sorts against Smith via her Twitter, calling out Smith on what the Canadian musician views as a culturally insensitive and offensive band name.

UPDATE (4/17, 12:15 p.m. EDT): According to Tagaq, Smith will now be changing her band name. You can learn more here.

As Eskimeaux's Wikipedia page states, Smith's father is of Tlingit decent — an indigenous people from the Pacific Northwest.

In an old Tumblr post, Smith addressed her decision to choose the name, writing: "I chose this moniker as a teenager, in a time when I felt like I had been denied an identity — my Tlingit heritage was the only thing I could hold onto about my cultural history that was real. Eskimeaux is basically me: it's an empowered persona that has brought me warmth and fulfillment in times of isolation and confusion about my origins."

Below, you can read Tagaq's string of tweets against Smith: As of press time, Smith has yet to publicly reply to Tagaq's string of tweets.

Eskimeaux plays Toronto's Lee's Palace on April 17. You can see all the project's tour dates here.

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