The Atakapa-Ishak Nation of Southwest Louisiana is a historic and contemporary tribal community within the southwest quadrant of Louisiana and ‘neutral ground.’
Our Ishak community is deeply rooted and tied to the Louisiana Creole communities in the area, along with other tribal nations and communities that recognize the political, cultural, linguistic, and environmental stewardship of the Ishak peoples.
As the traditional and contemporary stewards of the lands and parishes of SW Louisiana, our communities are on the frontlines of radical and devastating climate change. Moreover, our lands, which give rise to both our language and our culture, have been annexed through settler colonial and environmental extraction.
The Atakapa-Ishak People
are a vital part of Louisiana's history.
Culture and land are an interdependent ecological system.
Culture, language, and land are connected. The Atakapa-Ishak Nation of SWLA seeks to conserve land through outreach and restoration while centering the histories, practices, and sustainability of Ishak and Indigenous cultures of the Gulf South. Earth's greatest landscapes are threatened by increased road construction, oil and gas exploration, mining, and various modes of systemic-capital extraction. We aim to protect our traditional homelands while passing our culture to the next generation. Our culture is dependent on the lands of our ancestors.
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Find out about our mission, methods, and the results of our decades of advocacy.