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| ==Name== | ==Name== | ||
| The name ''Akokisa'' is of unknown origin, although ] has speculated that the name may be from the ] word ''icāk'' meaning "person". The Akokisa have also been known by the following names (and spellings): ''Accockesaws'', ''Accokesaus'', ''Accokesaws'', ''Aco-ke-sas'', ''Arkokisa'', ''Horcoquisa'', ''Ocosaus'', ''Orcoquisa(s)'', ''Orcoquisacs'', ''Orcoquizas'' | The name ''Akokisa'' is of unknown origin, although ] has speculated that the name may be from the ] word ''icāk'' meaning "person". The Akokisa have also been known by the following names (and spellings): ''Accockesaws'', ''Accokesaus'', ''Accokesaws'', ''Aco-ke-sas'', ''Arkokisa'', ''Horcoquisa'', ''Ocosaus'', ''Orcoquisa(s)'', ''Orcoquisacs'', ''Orcoquizas''. | ||
| ==Culture== | ==Culture== | ||
Revision as of 22:35, 7 August 2007
The Akokisa were a people that lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers in Texas. John Sibley in 1805 reported that they previously lived near Matagorda Bay on the west bank of the Colorado River in ancient times.
Name
The name Akokisa is of unknown origin, although John R. Swanton has speculated that the name may be from the Atakapa word icāk meaning "person". The Akokisa have also been known by the following names (and spellings): Accockesaws, Accokesaus, Accokesaws, Aco-ke-sas, Arkokisa, Horcoquisa, Ocosaus, Orcoquisa(s), Orcoquisacs, Orcoquizas.
Culture
Around the 1750s the Akokisa were divided into five village groups. In 1947, Orobio counted about 300 families for each village, an estimated total between 1,200-1,250.
They decorated their bodies and faces with tattoos.
The Akokisa, like the Atakapa, practiced cannibalism, which may have been connected to their religious beliefs.
Black drink was used to induce vomiting in certain ceremonies.
Almost nothing is known about their kinship systems, life cycle, or marriage customs.
Language
The Akokisa language is extinct and virtually unknown.
Swanton claimed that the Akokisa spoke a language related to Atakapa based on the similarity of a vocabulary of 45 words ascribed to the Akokisa collected by Captain Jean Béranger in 1721 on Galveston. However, there is no clear evidence that this document actually represents the language of Akokisa (Béranger provide a tribal designation for the vocabulary).
Sibley also reported that they had their own language "peculiar to themselves" and used sign language to communicate with other Indians (also reported for other peoples in eastern Texas). He did not connect them with the Atakapa.
Only two Akokisa words have been found in Spanish records: Yegsa meaning "Spaniard(s)" and Quiselpoo, a female name.
Bibliography
- Gatschet, Albert S.; & Swanton, John R. (1932). A dictionary of the Atakapa language, accompanied by text material. Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin (No. 108). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Goddard, Ives. (2005). The indigenous languages of the Southeast. Anthroplogical Linguistics, 47 (1), 1-60.
- Martin, Jack. (2004). Languages. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast (Vol. 14, pp. 68-86). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Newcomb, William W., Jr. (2004). Atakapans and neighboring groups. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast (Vol. 14, pp. 659-663). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Sibley, John. (1806). Historical sketches of the several Indian tribes in Louisiana, south of the Arkansa river, and between the Mississippi and River Grand . In T. Jefferson (Ed.), Message from the President of the United States communicating the discoveries made in exploring the Missouri, Red River, and Washita (p. 48-62). New York: G. F. Hopkins.
- Swanton, John R. (1911). Indian tribes of the lower Mississippi valley and adjacent coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin (No. 43). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- Villiers du Terrage, Marc de; & Rivet, Paul. (1919). Les indiens du Texas et les expéditions françaises de 1720 et 1721 à la 'Baie Saint-Bernard'. Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris, 14, 127-149.