The Akokisa did walk here Traditional Cache

The name Akokisa is of unknown origin, although John R, Swanton speculated that the name may be from the Atakapa work icak 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.

Akokisa people lived in settled villages and built airy structures to cope with their warm climate. Their homes were beehive-shaped and thatched with grass or palmetto leaves. A hearth would be located in the center of the floor with a smoke hole in the ceiling. During summer months, an Akokisa would sleep in a Chickee, a raised platform with a thatched roof and open sides. Beds were made of straw, covered with animal skins. 

     Hut                    Chickee           Council Lodge

For water transportation and fishing, Akokisas carved cypress logs into dugout canoes. Both men and women decorated their bodies and faces with tattoos.

The Akokisa, like the Atakapa, practiced  cannibalism, which may have been connected to their religious beliefs. Cannibalist feasts were described by Simars de Bellisle, who observed them firsthand. Black drink was used for purification in certain ceremonies.

They are reported to have grown "superfine" maize. Tubers of the Greenbrier vine provided meal for baking and cooking. During warm seasons they ate bird eggs, fish, shellfish, and American lotus rhizomes and seeds; during cold seasons they moved further inland and hunted deer, bear and bison. Horses were used to hunt bison. Tanned deer hides and bear fat were their primary commercial exports.

Almost nothing is known about their kinship systems, life cycle, or marriage customs. What is known is mostly from mission records.

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