Ishak

The Ishak, also called Atakapa, were peoples of the Gulf coast of present-day Texas and Louisiana. They spoke an isolated language and lived along rivers including the Mermentau and Vermilion.

In 1528 survivors of the Narváez expedition encountered a western Ishak community on the Texas coast. In 1721 Jean Béranger recorded words from captives in Galveston Bay. Ishak joined French and Caddo forces against the Natchez at Natchitoches in 1731. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, settlers increasingly acquired Ishak lands along the Mermentau and Vermilion rivers.