Everything about The Atakapa totally explained
The
Atakapa (pronounced "uh-TAK-uh-paw", also spelled
Attakapa,
Attakapas,
Attacapa, formally known as the
Ishaks, pronounced "ee-SHAKS", translated as
The People ) were a
Southeastern culture of
Native American tribes and with a common language that lived along the
Gulf of Mexico.
Their territory ranged from
Atchafalaya River in
Louisiana to
Trinity River and
Galveston Bay in
Texas. They hunted small game, and ate fish, roots, berries, and shellfish and also planted crops. Though the tribe's population at various times was speculated in tens of thousands, historians agree those numbers had dwindled to mere hundreds when Louisiana was undergoing colonization in the
1700s and different bands migrated westward.
Subdivisions or tribes
- Western Atakapa
- Eastern Atakapa
History
The
Choctaw Indians told the
French settlers about the "people of the West", who represented numerous subdivisions or tribes and called them
Atakapa. The French referred to them as
"le savage". The name
Atakapa is a Choctaw name meaning 'people eater' (
hattak 'person',
apa 'to eat'), which is a reference to the practice of cannibalism exercised by Gulf coast peoples on their enemies.
French historian Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratz, who spent 16 years in
Louisiana, from
1718 to
1734, wrote:
» Along the west coast, not far from the sea, inhabit the nation called Atacapas (sic), that is, Man-Eaters, being so called by the other nations on account of their detestable custom of eating their enemies, or such as they believe to be their enemies. In the vast country there are no other cannibals to be met with besides the Atacapas; and since the French have gone among them, they've raised in them so great an horror of that abominable practice of devouring creatures of their own species, that they've promised to leave it off: and, accordingly, for a long time past we've heard of no such barbarity among them.
Since then the Ishaks consider
Atakapa a derogatory name and no proof of cannibalism has ever been found.
In
1528, one Western Atakapa tribe or subdivision saved the
Spanish explorer
Cabeza de Vaca and his mates from ship-wreck and starvation. De Vaca remained with them until
1535. Cabeza de Vaca described Ishaks as "well built".
In
1703,
Bienville sent three Frenchmen up the
Sabine River who met one Western Atakapa tribe or subdivision and in
1714 this tribe is one of 14 that come to
De l'Epinay, who was acting French Governor of Louisiana between
1717 and
1718, while he's fortifying
Dauphin Island, Alabama.
In
1760, the French Gabriel
Fuselier de la Claire, coming to the Attakapas
Territory,
France, bought all the land between
Vermilion River and
Bayou Teche from the Eastern Atakapa Chief
Kinemo. It was shortly after that a rival Indian Tribe, the
Appalousa (Opelousas) coming from the area between Atchalafaya River and
Sabine River exterminated the Eastern Atakapa who occupied the area between Atchalafaya River and Bayou Nezpique (Attakapas Territory).
Today
It is believed that most Western Atakapa tribes or subdivisions were decimated in the
1850s mainly from disease and poverty. However, many descendants still exist and fight for a recognition of their identity. Numerous descendants today share a mix lineage of
African-American and Atakapas-Ishak Indian, making it difficult to get federal recognition.
Many names of present day towns can be traced back to the Ishaks. The town of
Mermentau is a corrupted form of the local chief
Nementou. The word
Plaquemine of
Bayou Plaquemine Brûlée means "
persimmon" in the Indian language.
Bayou Nezpiqué was named for an Indian with a tattooed nose.
Bayou Queue de Tortue was believed to have been named for Chief Celestine La Tortue of the Atakapas nation. The name "
Calcasieu" comes from the Atakapa language
katkosh, for "Eagle", and
yok, "to cry".
On
October 28,
2006, the Atakapa-Ishak nation met for the first time in over 100 years as "One nation". There were 450 people who represented Louisiana and Texas. The mistress of ceremony and newly appointed Director of Publications and Communications, Rachel Mouton started out by introducing Billy LaChapelle who opened the afternoon with an Atakapa prayer in
English and in the Atakapa language.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Atakapa'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://atakapa.totallyexplained.com">Atakapa Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
