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What is the Kickapoo Tribe?

By Jessica Hobby
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 11,328
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The Kickapoo Tribe is a group of Native Americans who first inhabited northwest Ohio and southern Michigan. 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 separation occurred after an argument about a bear paw. The name Kickapoo is derived from the Shawnee word for “wanderer.”

After fighting with the Iroquois in the late 1600s, the Kickapoo Tribe was forced to the present day area of southern Wisconsin and further spread to northern Illinois in the early 1700s. They continued to flee south and west in response to aggressive settlement by the Europeans. In the late 1800s, the Kickapoo Tribe arrived where they currently reside in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Chihuahua, Mexico.

The Kickapoo primarily lived in wickiups, or bark and brush-covered dwellings. Kickapoo women were responsible for farming, cooking and taking care of the children, while men hunted. As many other Algonquin tribes, the Kickapoo tribe was organized into patrilineal clans. Each clan was given the name of an animal.

The Kickapoo Indians frequently migrated before and after their encounters with European settlers. They were adept at growing corn, squash and beans in addition to being buffalo hunters and gatherers. Once the Kickapoo obtained horses from European settlers, they became skilled riders. In addition to using the horses to migrate and fight, they employed them to hunt buffalo on the plains.

Frequent migration led to 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. At one time men wore loin cloths and women wore wrap skirts, but later altered 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 unfriendly and distrustful of Europeans who settled America. However, the tribe eventually became allies with the French during the 1700s. During the American Revolution, the Kickapoo Indians remained neutral for a great deal of time. In an effort to keep American land, they eventually sided with the British.

During the War of 1812 between America and the British, the Kickapoo Tribe also sided with Britain. They joined forces with famous Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumsah to oppose American expansion to the west. Tecumsah and his supporters were badly defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe in November of 1811.

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Discussion Comments
By pastanaga — On Oct 04, 2011

Mor - Honestly, I think that a lot of people don't realize that there is more to Indian culture than just casinos and a colorful history. In a lot of places, Indian communities are beginning to thrive and integrate their old traditions with living in the modern world.

It sounds like the Kickapoo tribe is a good example of that. I hope they and other tribes continue to thrive, because honestly America needs to foster diversity. Diversity makes a country strong.

By Mor — On Oct 03, 2011

I don't think it mentioned it in the article, but there are still almost 3000 people registered as part of the Kickapoo tribe in Oklahoma. And there are more people who consider themselves to be Kickapoo who are aligned with other tribes in the United States.

They are actually doing really well considering how small their tribe is at the moment. There are still children who speak the Kickapoo language, and the tribe as a whole makes a relatively large amount of money from their casino.

I don't know much about the day to day workings of the tribe though. It's easy to look in from the outside and make generalizations about a group of people.

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