Who were the Kickapoo?By Edward Barlow, Section Historical Perspectives
Kickapoo is a popular name in this region. Not only is there the famous Kickapoo River, but there is a reserve, a valley, a school, sports teams, businesses, many commercial products, and events named after the Kickapoo.
So, what does Kickapoo mean? Who were the Kickapoo?
The name probably originates from the Kickapoo Indians who, in the 1600s, may have lived in this region for two or three generations. In the Algonquian language Kickapoo translates as "he moves about, standing now here, now there". This translation aptly describes the river which is 125-miles long, but only covers 65 miles from beginning to end.
Who were the Kickapoo? The Kickapoo were originally a large respected nation living in Northwestern Ohio and Southern Michigan. Today, there are three small, federally recognized Kickapoo tribes - the Kickapoo of Kansas, the Kickapoo of Oklahoma, and the Traditional Kickapoo of Texas. A Mexican tribe lives in Coahuila, Mexico. Throughout their history they were generally on the "wrong side" of many wars. Before the Revolutionary War they were on the wrong side of the many British, French, or Indian wars. As a result, most were forced to relocate to what is now southern Illinois/western Indiana. Others relocated to Wisconsin (around Green Bay) and some to south-western Wisconsin. From 1792 to 1794, President George Washington waged an ethnic cleansing war on the "Northwest" Indians of New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. They were defeated at Fallen Timbers (now Toledo, Ohio). The resulting Grenville Treaty (1795) officially allotted the Kickapoo 13 million acres in present day Illinois. In five subsequent treaties most of this land was lost. Their reduced landholdings in Illinois did not last long. Because they fought against the US army when the army burned the Indian capitol at Tippecanoe, Indiana (1811), and because they sided with the British when the British burned the US capitol in Washington DC (1812), they were forced to relocate (by treaties) into the Lake of the Ozarks region of Missouri Territory. In 1830, to "ethnically cleanse" many Indian nations living east of the Mississippi, President Andrew Jackson passed the infamous Indian Removal Act. This Act authorized and funded the US army to move tens of thousands of Eastern Indians to west of the Mississippi. In resistance, the Missouri Kickapoo supported the so-called Black Hawk War (1832) and were defeated. As a result, the Castor Hill Treaty (1833) allotted them 768,000 acres in Kansas. Cheated from much of this land, the present day Kansas Kickapoo (about 1,400) have about 7,000 acres 50 miles north of Topeka, Kansas. Over the years many Kickapoo fled to Mexico and Oklahoma Indian Territory and established communities. In 1873 the US Army sneaked into Mexico and destroyed several Kickapoo villages. (The men were away on a hunting trip). Survivors were marched to Indian country in Oklahoma. The US government allotted the survivors 100,000 acres. Today the Oklahoma Kickapoo (about 1000) have only 6,000 acres 25 miles east of Oklahoma City. In the 1940s about 650 Kickapoo living in Mexico were forced back to the US by Mexican farmers. In 1983, the US government recognized the tribe as the Traditional Kickapoo of Texas and allotted them 175 acres near Eagle Pass, Texas. They had been living under a bridge with one water faucet. Many Kickapoo typically worked as migrant farm workers on vast lands that were once theirs. Now they are "enjoying" their casino wealth, and are buying back land that was once stolen from them. Finally, there is much more to their story. An excellent website to learn more is http://www.tolatsga.org/kick.html
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