Since pre-colonial times, the Atakapa-Ishak Nation lived, migrated, nurtured nature, and exchanged throughout the Gulf Coast. The tribe’s traditional lands stretched from Harris County in Texas to Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana. Today, many descendants live throughout the states of Louisiana and Texas.

In addition, Louisiana retains vibrant Indigenous influences. Visible in town and street names like Opelousas and Tchoupitoulas, as well as in cuisines such as gumbo filé and tasso, which reflect Native culinary practices.

Americans often forget that Louisiana’s First People endured enslavement, forced miscegenation, land theft, brutal attempts of genocide, and much more.

“Code Noir [were] laws that were specifically meant to govern African slaves, people of African descent, Indigenous People, Free People of Color, Mulattoes, Creoles [and] melanated people,” said Shawn Papillion (Atakapa-Ishak Nation’s Yukití Ipshok/Medicine Person) in ISHAK, the tribe’s first documentary.

To this day, the state and federal governments fail to provide land restoration, recognition, and reparations to Native tribes.