Kennekuk

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Kennekuk

Kennekuk , known as "The Kickapoo Prophet" (* around 1790, † 1852 in Kansas ), was a spiritual chief of the Kickapoo .

Legend and history

Kennekuk was the chief of a settlement on the Osage River in today's US state of Illinois . He encouraged his tribe to accept the agricultural cultivation of the farmland of the Euro-Americans. In 1816 he instructed the followers of his tribe in a kind of new religion, which meant a syncretistic mixture of the old Kickapoo rituals and Roman Catholic elements of the European settlers. The new doctrine of the faith deviated radically from the old traditional Kickapoo rituals towards the approximately similar sermons of the Old Testament . The message was that by following the five instructions of God (the "Great Spirit") - do not argue, do not steal, do not lie, do not murder, burn medicine bags - the Indians would one day reach the afterlife and could then prevent the Creator from protecting the world to destroy because of their wickedness. The new individual rituals included morning fasting and numerous prayers, Sunday services with prayers while walking and ceremonial handshakes.

Around 400 Kickapoo and 100 members of the neighboring Potawatomi tribe converted to this “new” faith: while still worshiping the “Kickapoo prophet”, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary were also praised. The associated belief in heaven, hell and purgatory testified to the inner turmoil of the tribal believers.

The Indians, who suffered from setbacks such as B. Loss of land were marked mentally and morally, also took part in church commemorations on Sundays and public holidays. Sinful Indians who publicly disclosed their wrongdoing willingly consented to punishment by whipping. Several white viewers of these public punishments later reported that Kennekuk had visible scars from such punishments.

The Kickapoo leader instructed his followers to leave behind the "foolish and malicious" sneaks of the "prairie gang" - in other words, the warlike conflict between Indian tribes - and to make peace with the warring tribes forever. He also implored his people to take care of the dress culture and other external signs of the white settlers. He preached to them to stay sober and not indulge in alcohol and to concentrate on hard physical labor.

In July 1819, the Kickapoo signed two contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs , which forced them to settle west of the Mississippi . The contracts were negotiated after land-hungry Illinois residents with tenacious interest groups successfully pushed through to expel all Indians from the state. The state agents persuaded the Prairie Kickapoo to agree that they would receive annual cash awards, instant cash payments, and new Missouri residential property in return for the transfer of 56,656 km² of land. Within just a few years, most of the Kickapoo Indians were gone from Illinois.

In August 1819, the remaining Kickapoo who claimed to be Vermillion Kickapoo tribal chiefs signed a similar contract.

At an apparently striking distance from the long-cherished traditions, the Kickapoo began to sow and harvest the fields. The success guaranteed to them came quickly: they produced a surplus of corn and other crops that were sold to local traders. In addition, under the influence of Kennekuk's religion, alcoholism disappeared. The Vermillion Kickapoo were so successful that William Clark, then regional head of Indian Affairs , did not press Kickapoo to meet the deadline of the negotiated contracts in order to stay longer on site because of the profitable growing successes.

Many Indians did not want to leave their settlement area and so Kennekuk became a teacher of delaying tactics. By 1833 he managed to hold off the state officials for almost two decades. Then between 300 and 400 members of the Kickapoo tribe had to leave Illinois for Kansas.

Kennekuk died of smallpox in 1852 . Subsequently, his teaching lost a lot of its vitality.

literature

  • George A. Schultz: Kennekuk, The Kickapoo Prophet . 1980.
  • Joseph B. Herring: The Prophet Kennekuk and the Vermillion Kickapoos: Acculturation Without Assimilation . 1985.
  • Joseph B. Herring: Kennekuk: The Kickapoo Prophet . University Press of Kansas, Lawrence 1988, ISBN 978-0-7006-0357-2 .
  1. ↑ a b c Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions , Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . P. 197.

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kennekuk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Kickapoo Prophet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION spiritual chief of the Kickapoo
DATE OF BIRTH around 1790
DATE OF DEATH 1852
Place of death Kansas