A Tour of the History & Culture of the Atakapa-Ishak Indians

Welcome Chief Amos!!! Let’s take a tour through the rich culture of the Atakapa-Ishak Indians. The Atakapa-Ishak (uh-TAK-uh-paw - ee-SHAK) are a Southwest Louisiana/Southeast Texas tribe of ancient Indians who lived in the Gulf of Mexico's northwestern crescent and called themselves Ishak. The name means The People. In prehistoric times the Ishak divided into two populations known to this day as, "The Sunrise People" and "The Sunset People". Some Ishak lived on the south coast of what is now Texas, down to Matagorda Bay. Other Ishak lived on the upper coast of the Gulf's northwestern crescent at what is now Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. In Louisiana, on the coast, they spread all the way to what is now Vermilion Bay.