The Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas was once spoken the Atakapa Language. They called themselves (ISHAK) meaning (the people). The tribe was nearly wiped out by SMALLPOXS in the 18th century. The language has not been spoken for over a century, however the tribe is trying to revive the language again. Atakapa Language is an agglutinative with complex verbs and primarily verb inital work order. Samples of works in the Atakapa Language.........
English Francais Atakapa
One Un Hannik
Two Deux Hapal
Three Trois Lat
Four Quatre Imatol
Five Cinq Nit
Man Homme Icak
Woman Femme Kic
Dog Chien Cul
Sun Soleil Lak
Moon Lune Ityile
Water Eau Kakau
The Atakapas uh-TAK-uh-paws (Attakapa, Attakapas, Attacapa) are a Southwest Louisiana/Southeast Texas branch of ancient Indians who lived in the Gulf of Mexico's northwestern crescent and called themselves Ishaks (ee-SHAKS). The name means the People.
The prehistorical Ishaks in Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas were hunters, fishers, and gatherers. The Ishaks hunted with bow and arrow, which they called 'te n o n tik' (bow and string and arrow). Unlike today's users of the bow, the Ishaks did not forget to include the all important string in naming that hunting implement. The string for their main hunting bow was of triple-twisted sinews. Its bow of hickory wood stood 4 1/2 feet tall, and was the product of generations of careful craftsmanship. The bow was so powerful it could send an arrow clean through a bull bison.
Through prehistorical times the Ishak ancestors of the Atakapas hunted the bison. Hence, they were a nomadic people following the wandering herd. When hunting deer, sometimes the Ishaks chose to run a deer to exhaustion rather than slay it with arrow.
The Ishaks were also fishers. Long before Europeans arived, Ishaks harvested the waters of Southwest Louisiana/Southeast Texas, which were teeming with fish. They caught fish by hand, by net, by hooked bone, by weirs (traps), by arrow and by spear. They harvested salt water oysters along the length of their homeland's coast. They dried and smoked oysters and shrimp and other seafoods for consumption and for barter.
The Ishaks were also gatherers, nomads often on the move by the seasons, gathering food and useful items. They gathered and packed pecans for barter via the ancient trade routes of the Indians. Their forays for gathering food in what is now S.W. LA/S.E. TX found them tramping their forests there and camping on the more than half a dozen streams in their homeland. They looked for roots, berries, nuts, wild grapes, wild honey, persimmons, and other fruits, along with other useful plants like sedges and rushes for making mats and baskets. They gathered also medicinal plants for remedies.
Historical Ishaks were called Atakapas, a Choctaw slur, by the Spaniards and then by the French in Louisiana which gave the Ishak people an ugly reputation, rumor of which continues through today. Descendents of the Atakapa Indians exist unrecognized and misnamed under various names of choice like Creoles, Creole Indians, and Creoles of Color. The term colored has clouded the Atakapas' racial identity. Atakapa descendents show a wide range of complexions which is attributed to the genes for light or brown complexions. Many Atakapas no longer know their correct racial identity.
The heritage of the Atakapa is rich and diversified and one of which to be proud. There is much in our lives today that point to the prehistoric Atakapa.
