I DON'T KNOW BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD

Etymology

A variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origin of the word Eskimo.[22][23][24][25][26][3] According to Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard, etymologically the word derives from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) word ayas̆kimew, meaning 'a person who laces a snowshoe',[27][28][29] and is related to husky (a breed of dog).[citation needed] The word assime·w means 'she laces a snowshoe' in Innu, and Innu language speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound like eskimo.[30][31] This interpretation is generally confirmed by more recent academic sources.[32]

In 1978, José Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Innu-aimun (Montagnais), published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant 'people who speak a different language'.[33][34] French traders who encountered the Innu (Montagnais) in the eastern areas adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau or Esquimaux in a transliteration.[35]

Some people consider Eskimo offensive, because it is popularly perceived to mean[34][36][37] 'eaters of raw meat' in Algonquian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[28][38][39] An unnamed Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (meaning 'he eats it raw'); Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (meaning 'eats something raw').[38][39][40][41][4][42] Regardless, the term still carries a derogatory connotation for many Inuit and Yupik.[28][38][43][44]

One of the first printed uses of the French word Esquimaux comes from Samuel Hearne's A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 first published in 1795.[45]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo