INUIT MOTHER AND DAUGHTER DEMONSTRATES WHAT A REAL “ESKIMO KISS” LOOKS LIKE

For most of us, when we hear the term “eskimo kiss” we might thing of a cute image of two people rubbing noses. However, if that is you, you have been wrong and it’s now time to correct that. 

This traditional greeting is often misunderstood by Western culture. However, self-proclaimed “Proud Indigenous” woman Shina Novalinga shares educational videos on TikTok about her Inuit traditions in a bid to teach more people around about the true Inuit culture. 

Shina and her mother demonstrated the true “eskimo kiss” in one of her recent videos. According to the Inuit traditions and the real name for an eskimo kiss is a kunik. The word “Eskimo” is often used to refer to Inuit and Yupik individuals, as well as other Indigenous Alaskan people. 

Many people consider “Eskimo” a derogatory term because it was widely used by non-Native colonisers. However Shina states in her TikTok bio, “I am Inuk,” which is the correct singular term for Inuit.

In the video demonstrating the correct way to do the kunik kiss, Shina and her mother Kayuula explained that rubbing noses is not the correct way. The correct way is actually to press their nose against someone’s cheek.“Usually it's done with a lot of emotion. The more love you have for a person, the stronger you do it.” 

Watch the adorable mother daughter video and the correct demonstration on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@shinanova/video/7012445829202070790?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=7017723671428318722&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0