Eskimo kissing Eskimo kissing An Eskimo kiss, also called nose kiss or nose rub, is the act of pressing the tip of one's nose against another's nose usually interpreted as a friendly greeting gesture in various cultures. When early explorers of the Arctic first witnessed Inuit nose rubbing as a greeting behavior, they dubbed it "Eskimo kissing". The Eskimo kiss was used as an intimate greeting by the Inuit who, when they meet outside, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed. The Eskimo kiss is employed by the Inuit as a traditional greeting called a "kunik". A "kunik" is a
Eskimo appropriate term. As a result, the Canadian government usage has replaced the (locally) defunct term Eskimo with "Inuit" ("Inuk" in singular). The preferred term in Canada's Central Arctic is "Inuinnaq", and in the eastern Canadian Arctic "Inuit". The language is often called "Inuktitut", though other local designations are also used. Despite the ICC's 1977 decision to adopt the term "Inuit", this was never accepted by the Yupik peoples, who likened it to calling all Native American Indians "Navajo" simply because the Navajo felt that that's what all tribes should be called. The Inuit of Greenland refer to themselves as "Greenlanders"