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Matthew Urbano
Professor Hake
English 20
24 October 2015
Risen From Beneath, A Forgotten Language
Only little information was ever recovered about the natives of the Mackapakka tribe.
Few words and symbols have only been able to be half to barely understood. Throughout many
decades we have learned of the Aztecs, the Cheyennes, the popular Sioux Indians, Mayans,
Incas, and many more. Today Native genealogy researchers have revealed new findings of the
literature of the Mackapakkas. It it known that language has been used throughout all history,
this is proven to us that people have been communicating verbally and also through writing.
In many movies dealing with Native Americans, they are known to have names such as
Sleeping Panther, Crouching Tiger, or even Sneaky Turtle. This should be no surprise that they
would have multiple words that describe a single word that we know today. While decoding
some writing carved into caves that were once inherited by the Mackapakkas, researchers have
found that while describing plains or hills they have used words that are more explanatory such
as absolutely flat or slightly hilly. From this I presume that the Mackapakkas were
intellectual and descriptive in their language. Around these caves we have seen drawings of fish
beneath a single wavy line, We believe this line to be an interpretation of water, probably the
ocean.
Luckily we have located and come in contact with a descendant from a direct family line
of the Mackapakkas. He was the grandson of a chief of the tribe, Nasty Splinter. His name is
John Black, thought he remembers his Native name, Pretty boy. There were many words for

leader, and when speaking of one they do not call them by their name. They refer to all the
leaders, and use a plural word. The evidence suggest respect for all leaders because they are not
singled out by name.
Though his language is now lost and he is unable to speak fluently he is able to remember
a couple words and phrases. Fortunately from his valuable information we have learned that
some words they use have many more words which have the exact same meaning. An example
for this is that the word we know as wheat have at least eight words alone which also means
wheat in their language. When we spoke to John about fishing and the ocean he referred to the
ocean as sinking blue. We asked him if he knows the term ocean, and he said he learned of it
after living life away from the Mackapakkas but being raised in the tribe he has become
accustomed to saying sinking blue.
John mentions to us that the Mackapakkas have always been a tough tribe, they were
decent farmers and fishers but even they were being trained as warriors. Children were tought at
a young age to wield weapons. They ate corn, fish, grains, and animals such as buffalos, cows,
and pigs. I asked John about beef and pork, but he only knew them as cow and pig. They were
feared by many, until his Grandfather became chief and changed their ways towards peace.
Johns father was named Light Feather and was looked up to with great potential as a leader.
John referred to his father as a Husband and Father, which he explains was the term for man.
For woman, he referred to them as Wife and Mother.
They lived peacefully for plenty of decades, trading with tribes nearby for other goods
not found in their area such as fur, weapons, food. Sadly they were conquered by the Ratchetikki
Tribe, who drove them away from their lands. John had escaped with his only brother, Bended
Arrow. Many to all of the Mackapakka Tribe were taken prisoner or killed including their father

and mother. John and his brother were taken in by an english family, but unfortunately Johns
brother had been wounded and died because of lack of treatment and extreme loss of blood.
From everything we have learned so far the Mackapakka tribe are strong willed, people.
They are very similar to other tribes in terms of words and traditions. The children were referred
to as little stargazer, or wise small one. I believe that perhaps the adults named their children
after themselves, but just added words such as little and small to relate to the childrens age
and/or size. John mentioned that the act of sex is known as planting a wise one. Perhaps this is
an analogy which includes farming and biology. I can see the resemblance as a womans eggs are
fertilized by men, and how crops are planted and grown.
We researchers believe that there is a high possibility that their language was divided
among branches of the tribe, because of the fact that many of their words have the same
meaning. An example is that there are twenty words for book, and nine words for artist. Though
we may never find out how this came to be, one might conclude from the information above that
the Mackapakkas were knowledgeable in language, survival and in wisdom. Thanks to John,
Pretty boy, we will be able to further study the lifestyle and traditions of the Mackapakkas.