Gabrielle Smith has been releasing music under the name Eskimeaux since 2007 -- most recently with last year's Year Of The Rabbit EP -- but will change her project's name following a conversation with award-winning Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq.
"We’ve been talking about changing the band name for a little over a year now. The band name is the gateway to the project and I never set out to make it controversial, hurt people’s feelings, or bring up a kind of hardship I haven’t personally had to endure," she writes in a statement. The project will now be known as Ó.
https://twitter.com/tagaq/status/852631098928635904
And here's a statement from Tagaq:
Our band has a project providing a soundtrack to the 1922 saga Nanook of the North. This project has significance became we have spent many years attempting to dissolve stereotypes surrounding Inuit culture, therefore humanizing a culture in the midst of socio-economic crisis due to post colonial fallout. The word Eskimo is a slur for many Inuit. The name being applied to a band by a non-Inuk person incensed me. I applied the same tactic that I have used a multitude of times with offending appropriators or groups (RIDM Festival, Ungava gin, Black Pussy), which was one of aggressive public scrutiny. This tactic is taken because often when I privately contact these groups they dismiss me completely until there is a public outcry. Gabrielle has taught me that people can be open and respectful when mistakes are made. I am very pleased with this outcome of the band name change and our impending friendship. Pleasant surprises.
The band now known as Ó still has a few dates left on their tour with WHY?. They'll also be playing a benefit show for Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium on 4/30 at Baby's All Right, which they say will be their "last show for a long time."
