The Atakapa are a tribe from Southwestern Louisiana. Their
name means "eaters of human flesh" in Choctaw, not necessarily
based on fact. In 1700 they occupied a large area of the flat
swampy land between the Mississippi and Sabine rivers; today
there are small settlements near Lake Charles that are somewhat
endogamous. The last Atakapa speaker was documented around 1935;
most of the original culture is gone but the identity is said
to be surviving. I've not met any Atakapa people personally, but
I believe that they're active to some degree in the Inter-Tribal
Council of Louisiana.
There's not much information on the Atakapa that I know of; the
most extensive historical information is probably to be found in
Swanton's bok, The Indian tribes of the Southeastern United States (I
think it's now available from the Smithsonian Press--a good sourcebook) or
perhaps his Indians of the Lower Mississippi Valley, which contains
a little that isn't in the former. The Historic Indian Tribes of
Louisiana, by Kniffen/ Gregory/ Stokes (LSU Press, ISBN 0-8071-1295-X)
contains a few pages on the tribe, but not much of substance for
research. Its bibliography mentions a book by J.O. Dyer called
The Lake Charles Atakapas (Cannibals), Period of 1817 to 1820, published
in Galveston. There's also a chapter in the new book published by
the University of Alabama Press, titled something like The Southeastern
Indian tribes in the Late 20th Century, on the Lousiana Tribes, but
I'm not sure that it mentions much about the Atakapa.
Hope this helps; I'll look for more information; if you
want to contact some Atakapa people I think I can get in
touch with them.
Take Care!
Arlen