For example, the term eskimo, used to refer to groups that inhabit the arctic and subarctic regions, is an Indian word used by neighbors of the Eskimos who observed their strange way of life but did not share it. The term means “eaters of raw flesh,” and as such is an ethnocentric observation about cultural practices that were normal to one group and repulsive to another. On the other hand, if we look at one subgroup among the Alaskan natives we find them calling themselves inuit, which means “real people” (they obviously did not think eating raw flesh was anything out of the ordinary). Here, then, is a contrast between one’s own group, which is real, and the rest of the world, which not so “real.” Both terms, eskimo and inuit, are equally ethnocentric--one as an observation about differences, the other as a self-evaluation. However, inuit is now seen as a more appropriate term because of its origin.