The Kickapoo Indians were originally part of the Shawnee tribe and lived in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. They moved to southern Wisconsin with neighboring tribes before settling in northern Illinois plains. They were wary of white people but allied with them in some wars. They were given lands in Missouri and Kansas but many left due to disagreements. The tribe is now divided into three groups with separate reservations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and a fourth reservation in northern Mexico. They have maintained their cultural traditions and customs.
The Kickapoo Indians are part of the Algonquin language group of Native Americans. Their home range, when whites first knew them, was Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. They were once part of the Shawnee tribe, but had separated at some point. Their language, still recognized as Shawnee, picked up idiosyncrasies from new neighbors, such as the whistle language for short commands.
Long before they encountered white settlers, the Kickapoo culture had been greatly influenced. The New York area Iroquois began a raiding system to expand their hunting and trapping territory in order to trade furs with the French. Many smaller tribes were attacked at this time until a major, if sporadic, migration was underway. Around 1640, the Kickapoo Indians and their neighbors, the Fox, Sauk, and Mascouten tribes, moved into southern Wisconsin.
These tribes had always been sedentary farmers. They lived in large communities during the summer months. For the winters, they split into smaller groups and moved to hunting camps. Their crops did not do well in their new home, however, and subsistence hunting soon depleted the area’s available resources.
The Kickapoo Indians had by now acquired the horse. Their next move, starting about 1700, was on the northern Illinois plains. Their use of the horse enabled them to hunt buffalo with great efficiency. Agriculture was better for them here, and their lot improved markedly for some time.
The Kickapoo Indians, more than most tribes, wanted nothing to do with white people and their ways. When the Kickapoo had items to trade, they used an intermediary tribe rather than dealing directly with white traders. This fact didn’t stop them from allying with the whites in some of the many small wars that broke out in the area. They sided with the cause that best suited their needs.
After Tecumseh’s wars, they were given lands in Missouri. They soon traded this land for some in Kansas. After moving there, disagreements caused large numbers of the Kickapoo tribe to leave, heading south and west. In the early 21st century, the Kickapoo tribe is divided into three groups with separate reservations, one in Kansas, another in Oklahoma, and a third in south Texas.
Along with the main tribal group, there have been many small bands that have left the tribe over the years. Many Kickapoo headed west to warn other tribes that the whites were coming. There is also a land grant, registered in 1775, from the Mexican colonial government, which grants a large tract of land to the Kickapoo. This land used to be in present-day Texas, but a fourth Kickapoo Reservation exists in northern Mexico in the Santa Rosa Mountains in the state of Chihuahua.
Many Indian tribes have tried to recover their heritage and customs over the years. Kickapoo Indians have never lost theirs. Their distrust of white people and the US government has kept them from taking on our culture. Though they have jobs and attend schools, they still maintain their distinct cultural traditions.
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