Most of the names picked were derogatory or menacing. For example, the Edmonton Eskimos came about by Calgarians trying to insult Edmontonians in the late 1890s. We called them Cowboys because. . .well, they are, and they called us Esquimaux because we lived in a frozen wasteland. We weren't Ekimos, but we accepted that name because it was an insult that wasn't personal.
The Indians and the Braves are supposed to evoke the negative associations with the various native American tribes. The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Vikings and such chose their names because that was what they saw themselves.
