LCF | Edmonton Club becomes Elks

The Canadian Press

The team dropped their long-standing name Eskimos last year after the NFL team in Washington made a similar decision after being pressured to remove racist or stereotyped names.

It was known as the Edmonton football team until it was announced on Tuesday. Its logo always has two “e’s”.

Elx is one of seven players on the club’s final list. Others are Evergreens, Evergolds, Eclipse, Elkhounds, Eagles and Elements.

When the club announced last year that it was abandoning the Eskimos name, President Chris Presson said the company wanted to keep its logo and colors, green and gold.

The move comes after the team twice dropped the Eskimos name, which has been associated with Edmonton’s sports teams since the 19th century. His critics considered it insulting and used an immigrant term to refer to Inuit.

In February 2020, the club announced that it would keep the name after more than a year of research with community leaders across the country.

Then, on July 8, the club promised to speed up the new name review process and update it later this month. In the statement, the club indicated that “many things have happened” since the February announcement. Belard Direct, one of the sponsors, specifically indicated his intention to review his partnership with the team. Others said they would welcome a name change.

Reflection is also taking place in the NFL, with the Washington Redskins being what they call the Washington football team, until they get a new name. Ditto in Major Baseball, where the Cleveland Indians announced they will have a new name from 2022.

Many times in the past, groups have asked Eskimos to change their names, especially in 2015, when the National Inuit organization gave signals that it was time to change.

Edmonton Football Club has been around since 1949. It has won 14 Gray Cups, the second highest total of 17 won by the Toronto Argonauts.

The state-owned team has an excellent history on the field, winning five consecutive championships from 1978 to 1982. They made an impression on the North American professional sport by qualifying for 34 consecutive seasons. From 1972 to 2005.