The Kickapoo tribe originated in northwestern Ohio and southern Michigan, but migrated south and west due to conflicts with European settlers. They were skilled farmers, hunters, and riders, and organized into patrilineal clans. They traded with other tribes and modified their dress accordingly. The Kickapoo were hostile towards Europeans, but eventually allied with the French and British during conflicts.
The Kickapoo tribe is a group of Native Americans who first inhabited northwestern Ohio and southern Michigan. The specific origins of the Kickapoo are unknown, but oral traditions of both the Shawnee Indians and the Kickapoo reveal that they were once the same tribe. A parting occurred after an argument over a bear’s paw. The name Kickapoo comes from the Shawnee word for “tramp.”
After fighting with the Iroquois in the late 1600s, the Kickapoo tribe was forced into what is now the southern Wisconsin area and spread further into northern Illinois in the early 1700s. They continued to flee south and west in response to settlement aggressive than the Europeans. In the late 1800s, the Kickapoo tribe arrived where they currently reside in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Chihuahua, Mexico.
The Kickapoo lived mainly in wickiups, or bark- and bush-covered dwellings. Kickapoo women were responsible for farming, cooking, and childcare, while the men hunted. Like many other Algonquin tribes, the Kickapoo tribe was organized into patrilineal clans. Each clan was given the name of an animal.
Kickapoo Indians migrated frequently before and after their encounters with European settlers. They were skilled in growing corn, squash, and beans as well as being hunters and gatherers of buffalo. Once the Kickapoo obtained horses from European settlers, they became skilled riders. In addition to using horses for migration and fighting, they used them to hunt buffalo on the plains.
Frequent migration has resulted in much diversity in the culture and dress of the Kickapoo tribe. Resistant to Christianity and almost everything introduced by European settlers, the Kickapoo traded significantly with other tribes during their migrations. Men once wore loincloths and women wore wrap skirts, but later they modified their dress with clothing from other tribes such as headdresses, silver jewelry, calico blouses, and tiered skirts.
Unlike many Native American tribes, the Kickapoo were extremely hostile and wary of Europeans who settled in America. However, the tribe eventually allied with the French during the 1700s. During the American Revolution, the Kickapoo Indians remained neutral for a long time. In an effort to hold American land, they eventually sided with the British.
During the War of 1812 between America and the British, the Kickapoo tribe also sided with Great Britain. They joined forces with famed Shawnee Indian chief Tecumsah to oppose American expansion west. Tecumsah and his supporters were badly defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe in November 1811.
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