Kickapoo

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Living and hunting area of ​​the Kickapoo around 1650

The Indians of the Algonquin language family known as Kickapoo (in the USA) or Kikapú (in Mexico) lived at the beginning of European contact west of Lake Erie in the extreme south of today's US state Michigan .

Today there are three federally recognized groups in the United States , namely Kansas , Texas, and Oklahoma . A fourth group lives in the state of Coahuila , Mexico . From the beginning of the European contact, the Kickapoo resisted adjustment in economic, political and religious matters and stayed as far as possible with their traditional way of life.

The Indian tribes / peoples are often defined by their reaction to European colonists: the so-called Five Civilized Tribes (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee and the Seminoles) tried to fit into the new civilization; the Apaches fought with hands and feet against the Americans (Apache Wars, 1849 to 1924) and Mexicans (Apache – Mexico Wars, 1831 to 1933). The Kickapoo, who neither fought against the powerful Americans nor wanted to surrender to them, chose a third tactic: They retreated several times to the west and south to escape the American frontier and USArmy , until the various bands finally in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas Mexico lived a long way from their original homeland Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. Today the culture and language of the Kickapoo is most alive among the "Mexico Kickapoo", presumably because this tribe is geographically furthest from the United States and its Indian policy.

language

The Kickapoo speak together with the closely related and allied Fox (Meskwaki) and Sauk (Thâkîwaki) a common Central Algonquin language , which is mostly known as Meskwaki (Fox-Sauk) (also: Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo ).

The two dialects Thâkiwâtowêweni and Meskwakiatoweni are closest to each other and show greater differences to the dialect of the Kickapoo.

Accordingly, there are three dialect variants :

  • Fox or Meskwakiatoweni ("Language of the Meskwaki")
  • Sac / Sauk or Thâkiwâtowêweni ("language of the Thâkîwaki"), and
  • Kickapoo (some linguists do not regard this as a Meskwaki dialect, but as a closely related - but separate language (ISO3 = kic) .)

In addition, the now extinct language of the Mascouten , which is closely associated with the Kickapoo (today no longer exist as an independent tribe), formed another dialect variant of the same language; their language or dialect is practically unknown (because it is undocumented). The linguistic and cultural similarities suggest that these four tribes lived close together shortly before contact with Europeans. Some evidence suggests that the Shawnee could also belong to this group as the fifth tribe.

The "Fox (Meskwaki)" is one of the seriously endangered languages , as the majority of the speakers are made up of older tribal members. The school in the Meskwaki Settlement, Iowa, offers bilingual classes. At the Smithsonian Institute and the University of Chicago research projects are carried out over Meskwaki.

Surname

The now commonly used tribal name "Kickapoo" is derived either from a common name among neighboring Algonquin-speaking tribes ( exonym ) or from their own name ( autonym ); However, it could also be that they adapted an original foreign name and used it as a proper name from then on. Several variants of the tribal designation are known: the Anishinabeg called them Giiwigaabaw , the Sauk and Fox called Kîkâpôwa and they themselves therefore called Kiikaapoa, Kiikaapoi or Kiwigapawa (further variants: Kikapu, Kiwegapaw ); the meaning is usually given as “those who are here and there” or “the hikers” and could refer to the nomadic way of life (the neighboring peoples were mostly arable farmers) or to the constant migrations / refugee movements of the tribe. However, this interpretation is controversial and is widely believed to be a folk etymology .

Other names for the Kickapoo: Auyax (Tonkawa), Hecahpo (Otoe), Igabu / Higabu (Omaha-Ponca), Ikadu (Osage), Ontarahronon (Huron: "People at the lake") or Tekapu (Wyandot), Shakekahquah (Wichita) , Shigapo (Shikapu) (Kiowa-Apache), Sikapu (Comanche).

residential area

The Kickapoo have moved so often that the tribe cannot be assigned to a specific residential area. When they first met Europeans at the end of the seventeenth century, they lived in southern Wisconsin . However, your stay there was relatively short. Previously they had settled in an area west of Lake Erie in the extreme south of what is now Michigan . Shortly after European contact, they moved to the Wabash River and central Illinois . In the early nineteenth century they displaced white settlers westward across the Mississippi , dividing the tribe into several groups. Part of the Kickapoo moved permanently to northeastern Kansas. The remaining tribe members moved separately west to the Missouri and later in a southwest direction to Texas and Mexico. Eventually, two Kickapoo communities formed, one of which is in central Oklahoma, while the second is in the north of the Mexican state of Coahuila. In this phase they are assigned to the prairie tribes.

External relationships

The Kickapoo were linguistically and culturally closely related to the Sauk, Fox and Mascouten . They evidently had the closest ties to the Mascoutes and eventually accepted them into their tribe. All four tribes also share cultural and linguistic similarities with the Shawnee . According to legend, they were once a single tribe and split up after an argument over a bear's paw. They made some ties with the Miami during their brief stay in Wisconsin and followed them to the Wabash River in the eighteenth century . The Kickapoo in central Illinois had good contacts with the Potawatomi and continued them later in Kansas.

The enemies of the Kickapoo changed over time. At the time of their first contact with Europeans, they waged war against the Dakota and then against the Iroquois, from whom they were eventually expelled to Wisconsin. Then they formed an alliance with neighboring tribes and fought for a long time against the Illinois Confederation, which they eventually defeated and driven south. However, their main enemies were the Osage and Chickasaw . In the Chickasaw Wars in the eighteenth century they fought on the French side against the English allied with the Chickasaw. The long-standing war against the Osage continued when the Kickapoo crossed the tribal area of ​​the Osage on their move west.

Your relations with the colonial powers changed several times. After an early hostile phase, they had friendly contacts with the French until shortly before the American War of Independence . They also maintained good relations with the Spaniards and later the Mexicans, but not with the English and not with the Americans.

Groups of the Kickapoo

Kickapoo Chief Babe Shkit, Oklahom Reservation

The Kickapoo were divided into individual groups called bands ( English " tribal groups "). After migrating from Wisconsin to Illinois, the tribe split into two autonomous and almost equally large units. The Prairie Band , as the first group was called, inhabited central Illinois, while the second was called the Vermilion Band and was located west of the Wabash River. Both groups did not always agree politically. For example, the Vermilion Band followed the Shawnee chief Tecumseh , but the Prairie Band opposed it. When they sold their tribal land in 1819, they signed separate treaties with the United States. The reasons for these internal differences are unclear. Maybe the merger of the Vermillion Band with the Mascouten plays a role.

A third, smaller band emerged from the move of part of the Kickapoo to the lower Missouri in 1763 or 1765 . After that, the tribe split into several similar groups, often formed by separate leaders. One of these groups arose among the followers of the Prophet Kennekuk and still lives in Kansas today. Two other groups that were formed after various separations and mergers have settled in Oklahoma and Mexico.

Culture

This representation of the Kickapoo culture is essentially based on scientific research of the tribal groups living in Oklahoma and Mexico today.

Livelihood

The Kickapoo had developed a combination of farming, collecting wild herbs and hunting for their livelihood. In the eighteenth century, they used a hunting area west of the Mississippi to hunt deer and bison . In the course of the colonial wars, the European powers wooed the support of the Indians, who in return received European goods and weapons as compensation. These deliveries of goods were an important part of the tribal economy. Between 1840 and 1850 a group of the Kickapoo specialized as intermediaries for the Comanche . Theft of horses and cattle was a lucrative business for many Indians in the nineteenth century.

Settlement pattern

A group of Kickapoo from Nacimiento, Coahuila, Mexico, built a winter shelter (2008).

The Kickapoo alternated between summer and winter villages. The rectangular summer huts consisted of a framework of posts and thin branches and were covered with elm bark. In the front there was an opening that served as an entrance. The side walls could be removed when it was very hot. The partly round or oval winter huts were covered with rush mats. There were also combined villages, which contained both summer and winter huts and were additionally equipped with a cooking house and a menstruation and birthing hut . The village usually had a cemetery and a meeting place where games and ritual dances were held.

Life cycle

The birth took place in a nearby menstruation and birthing hut. Experienced women supported the labor and the umbilical cord of the newborn was carefully preserved. After the birth of a boy, the mother stayed in this hut for thirty days and with a girl for forty days. Several months later there was a naming ceremony, combined with prayers and a banquet. The husband was allowed to choose the namesake of the first child, the wife the second and so it went on alternately. A relative belonging to his or her clan was usually chosen as the namesake. Choosing the name also included a vision or verified dream. During the ceremony, the name was announced and the name finding was described. From then on, the child belonged to the namesake's clan. With the name ceremony, the child became a member of the Kickapoo tribe and the corresponding clan. In addition to the namesake and the parents, a speaker and four witnesses attended the ceremony. They passed the child around and addressed it by name. After that, it was taken outside, wetted with water and touched with the leaves of a tree. In bringing up the child, the parents were generous when it came to minor offenses. Penalties for serious wrongdoing included food deprivation, immersion in cold water, and the occasional blow with a stick. It was hoped that these punishments would improve the child.

When a girl first menstruated, she had to spend ten days alone in a separate hut. Contact with males was forbidden, but women were allowed to visit it. An elderly woman gave him instructions on how to behave as an adult woman. After the end of the ritual seclusion, it had to bathe and was beaten with branches. During the rest of the menstruation, women had to spend the time in the menstrual hut, albeit in less rigorous seclusion. They were allowed to prepare food for the family, but they were not allowed to eat with them, but most importantly they were not allowed to touch sacred things. There was a similar ceremony in boys during puberty. When the boy had killed his first game, a ritual festival was held that included prayers, chants and dances. During the courtship , the man visited the chosen one at her family home at night. Among the Mexican Kickapoo the use of a love flute or was courting flute (courting flute) common. In traditional marriage, gifts were exchanged between the families of the bride and groom.

Upon the death of a family member, the family gathered in the house of the deceased to the whole-night ceremony (all-night ceremony). Those present included people with special tasks. There was a man who said prayers and recited songs, two cooks for the banquet, an elderly woman who dressed and painted the body, and an elderly man who supervised the digging of the grave. The selection of those involved was based on a system of reciprocity within the clan. The funeral was accompanied by prayers and chants, as well as quiet conversations about memories of the dead. When dawn came, four men took the dressed and painted body to the tomb. Only selected people were witnesses to the funeral, at which a speech was given to the dead. The grave goods included tobacco, a bowl of food, and other items such as a wooden spoon that the deceased owned. Without a spoon, it was believed that the deceased would have to eat foam forever. After lunch, the relatives left the funeral service. Widows and widowers were expected to have a limited period of mourning. Children under the age of twelve had to leave the house during the funeral service because they wanted to avoid seeing the dead man. After a minimum of four days to a maximum of four years, the deceased was ceremonially adopted. If the namesake was still alive, he had to host the festival. Otherwise, close relatives would take over this task. The adoptee should be of the same sex and age as the deceased he or she would replace. The ceremony took place at night in the deceased's house, allowing his spirit to be present. A donation of clothing was expected from the invited guests so that the adoptee could be dressed again. In addition to prayers and chants, there was a game or dance shortly before dawn, which differed depending on the sex of the deceased.

Social organization

The Kickapoo were divided into similar name groups and thus corresponded to similar units in the Sauk, Fox, Shawnee and Potawatomi. The ethnologist Betty Ann Dillingham discovered nine groups of names at the Kickapoo in Oklahoma: Blackberry (blackberry), Eagle (eagle), Water (water), Bear (bear), War or Man (war or man), Tree (tree), Raccoon ( Raccoon), elk (elk) and buffalo (buffalo).

The name groups of the Kickapoo were by no means unilinear, so they could come from the father or the mother. Today the groups of names have more of a ritual function. These focus on the religious meaning of names, for example in packing ceremonies. The Kickapoo, like the Sauk, Fox and Potawatomi, had a dichotomy. One half was called "Oskasa" and the other "Kiiskooha" or often also called black or white. Unlike the systems of the tribes culturally related to them, the two halves of the Kickapoo were closely linked to the name groups and all members of a name group also belonged to the same division. The division into two parts of the Kickapoo roughly corresponded to a moiety . The division of the tribe made for jokes and teasing. In addition, it was the basis for sporting comparisons such as games, races and cooking competitions. A fixed seating arrangement for ritual events was placed by the Oskasa on the north side and the Kiiskooha on the south side of the meeting place.

Political organization

The Oklahoma Kickapoo has a tribal council made up of heads of the individual clans. The office is passed on in the patrician line ( patrilineal ), albeit with exceptions. In 1953 the son of a sister or daughter of the deceased head of the same group of names could succeed. The tribal chief traditionally comes from the Adler clan , while the deputy, who acts as spokesman, comes from the raccoon clan . These two clans also took on leadership roles in their tribal department. Around 1950 the tribal council mainly dealt with social and ceremonial issues. Crimes such as murder or theft, which were previously prosecuted by the tribe and often punished in a draconian way, were now handed over to the local authorities in the United States with the decision of disown . The decisions of the tribal council had to be made unanimously.

The Mexican Kickapoo have a tribal council consisting of adult men and a chief with hereditary dignity. The duties of the tribal council include administering justice, punishing minor offenses, and overseeing land grants. Serious criminals are handed over to the Mexican authorities. By 1948 the chief was able to appoint two tribal police officers. During the four-month ceremonial season, the tribal chief is replaced by a religious leader.

The ethnologist Dillingham reports on a "queen" who was first mentioned in 1791 by contemporary tribesmen. Their tasks were more religious than political. The last two women in this position, which no longer exist today, were a mother and her daughter.

religion

The Kickapoo refused to listen to the French Jesuits and almost invariably retained their traditional beliefs. Of all the Kickapoo, the Mexican branch has the most adherents of the ancient religion and refuses to allow strangers to attend their ceremonies. A relatively large number of people still speak the Kickapoo language and have the highest percentage of thoroughbred tribesmen of any tribe in the United States.

At the heart of religion are good relationships with the manitus or spirits, which are supposed to make life safe and carefree for the individual. There is a hierarchical order among the spirits, with the Great Manitou or Creator at the head . There are also other phenomena, such as the four winds , sun, moon, stars and grandmother earth . Everyday things are also revered, for example plants and animals that play a role in the life of the Kickapoo. Tobacco and the god of thunder (Thunderer) are an important medium for communicating with supernatural beings.

There are a large number of important public rituals that are held at certain times of the year. There are no rituals in winter because it is believed that all ghosts are asleep at this time. The ceremonial season starts in spring with a series of sacred pack rituals . In the summer, followed by a number of religious festivals, such as the green corn ceremony (Green Corn Ceremony) at the time of the corn harvest. Finally, a number of other sacred pack ceremonies end the ritual season. Numerous Kickapoo from Oklahoma travel to Mexico for the opening of the ceremonial season. The Mexican Kickapoo return visits a month later when the Oklahoma season begins.

history

Beaver fur

Beaver Wars

Before the Kickapoo saw a European, they felt the effects of his arrival in North America. The beginning of the Beaver War around 1640 was caused by the Indian fur trade with the French. In search of new hunting grounds, Tionontati , Ottawa and neutrals invaded the Kickapoo tribal area and attacked their villages. An invasion of Iroquois warriors followed in the 1650s and forced the Kickapoo to flee as far as the Mississippi in southwestern Wisconsin .

The Kickapoo were first mentioned by the French around 1640 under the name Ontarahronon , with which they were referred to by the Wyandot . At the time they lived in southwest Michigan . Other French records indicate that they were to be found in southern Wisconsin after 1665 and lived there in mixed settlements with the Mascouten and Miami . By 1680 they had moved to the Illinois River . On a contemporary map by Jean BL Franquelin from 1684, the Kickapoo are placed on the upper Rock River, which he calls the "Kickapoo River". Like the other tribes, they took part in the fur trade, but like the Fox and Mascouten they strictly rejected proselytizing. Around 1710 some Kickapoo moved near the new French trading post and settled at the mouth of the Maumee River . In 1712 a group of Mascouten in southern Michigan were attacked by Potawatomi and Ottawa and fled east to their allies Fox and Kickapoo near Detroit .

Fox Wars

When the French openly sided with the Ottawa in Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit ( French for: Fort Pontchartrain on the Strait ), the location of today's Detroit, they were attacked by the united tribes of their opponents. This started the first Fox War (1712-1716). The first attack was unsuccessful and the Fox, Mascouten and Kickapoo decided to siege the fort. An advancing allied force from Wyandot, Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi attacked the besiegers surprisingly and in a subsequent massacre over 1,000 warriors of the Fox, Mascouten were killed and Kickapoo killed. The survivors fled to Wisconsin and fought against the French and their Indian allies for three years of raids and campaigns of revenge. Also in the second Fox War (1728–1737) the Kickapo and Mascouten fought on the side of the Fox against the French and the Indian tribes allied with them. When the Mascouten and Kickapoo refused to kill French prisoners, the Fox parted ways with them as allies. In the battle of 1730, which nearly led to the extermination of the Fox, the two former allies sided with the victors.

Move to Illinois and split into two autonomous bands

In the first half of the eighteenth century, the Kickapoo moved south into the Illinois area and settled on the lower Rock River around 1729 , which led to conflicts with the tribes living there. Then they pushed further south and east and reached the Wabash River . At that time, the tribe separated and formed two autonomous groups. The settlement area of ​​the Prairie Band was in central Illinois and extended between the valley of the Sangamon River to Peoria Lake . The Vermilion Band had united with the Mascouten and lived on the west bank of the Wabash River and its western tributaries. The Kickapoo remained allies of the French and received European goods and firearms in return. They secured the loyalty of the neighboring tribes to the French and fought with them against the Chickasaw, allied with the English .

In the French and Indian War (1755–1763) they were on the French side. In the winter of 1757/58 the Kickapoo warriors contracted smallpox and brought the epidemic to their villages. After the British conquered Québec and Fort Niagara , the war in North America was lost to France. When the French withdrew, the Kickapoo transferred their loyalty to the Spanish successor in Missouri . In 1763 or 1764 a group moved to the lower Missouri River . The Pontiacs uprising was enthusiastically supported by the Kickapoo and they raided numerous English settlements in 1771, even after the peace agreement.

American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Postwar Period

Governor Charles Scott

At the beginning of the American Revolution (1775–1783) the Kickapoo were initially neutral. Later they were to be found on the side of the Americans until they realized their intentions regarding their country. Together with the other tribes in the region, they eventually fought on the British side against the United States. The villages of the Vermilion Band were destroyed by the Americans under Governor Charles Scott and the surviving residents fled across the Mississippi. They later returned to the Wabash River and joined Tecumseh while the Prairie Band opposed the movement.

After the lost Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Vermilion Band warriors began raiding American settlements. The Prairie Band also took part in the actions, which increased during the course of the war of 1812. Despite the Springwells Peace Treaty of 1815, there were still attacks by the Kickapoo on American settlements in their territory. They only stopped after the two bands signed a contract in 1819, in which they were promised an area in southwest Missouri in exchange.

In July 1819, the Kickapoo signed two contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that forced them to settle west of the Mississippi . The state agents persuaded the Kickapoo to cede their land of 56,656 km² in size in exchange for cash rewards, immediate cash payments and a new residential area in Missouri. The move to their new residential area was extremely slow and dragged on for over 15 years, because many Kickapoo did not want to leave their home in Illinois. By 1832, only 600 of the estimated 2,000 Kickapoo had moved to Missouri. Because of the constant problems with the Osage resident there, they asked the US authorities to sell their land in Missouri and move to Kansas. In October 1832, the Kickapoo signed the Treaty of Castor Hill, in which they exchanged their land in Missouri for 1,930 km² in northeastern Kansas. 800 Kickapoo moved to Kansas and around 100 warriors volunteered in 1837 to serve as US Army scouts in Florida. In the 1830s, numerous Kickapoo fell victim to alcohol and epidemics. American missionaries tried again in vain to convert the tribe members to Christianity.

Kennekuk

Kennekuk

The Kickapoo did not accept the Christian missionaries; however, a prophet from their own ranks managed to instill some of the Christian values ​​on them. Chief Kennekuk , also known as the Kickpoo prophet, has preached since the war of 1812 and established a nativist movement. His teaching contained Christian elements and a strict ban on alcohol, polygamy and warfare. In addition, he preached a policy of cultural adjustment and rapprochement with white civilization. The rules proclaimed by Kennekuk were strictly followed by his supporters and expressly welcomed by the American authorities. However, they met with general opposition from the rest of the tribe.

Kennekuk managed to delay the departure of followers of his religion from Indiana until 1834, despite agreements with the American authorities. So they did not move to Missouri, but directly to the reservation in Kansas. There a permanent conflict developed with the traditionalists from Missouri, who therefore gradually migrated to the Great Plains in small groups . Some of them were seen in Colorado in the late 1840s . They had gained experience as horsemen and buffalo hunters from their previous stay in the prairies of northern Illinois. The neighboring Potawatomi officially united with the Kennekuk Kickapoo in 1851. Renewed friction caused some of the remaining traditionalists to move to Oklahoma in 1864. The current residents of the Kansas reservation are descendants of the Kennekuk-Kickapoo and Potawatomi.

Relocated to Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico

Another group of the Kickapoo still remaining in Missouri moved to Texas via Oklahoma and western Arkansas . Half of them settled on the Sabine River together with other refugees from the north under the leadership of the Cherokee chief The Bowl . When Texas became independent in 1836, the state's anti-Indian policies intensified. White settlers invaded the Indian hunting ground and the Kickapoo defended themselves with a series of raids. The Bowl condemned the Kickapoo's behavior because it feared retaliation from the Texans. The Kickapoo joined Mexican agents and with their new allies started a guerrilla war against the Texans. Numerous Kickapoo fled north across the Red River when the Texans destroyed their main village. In 1839, The Bowls' remaining followers were also evicted. Some moved north, while the rest fled to Mexico and were accepted into the Mexican army.

Two bands of the Kickapoo settled in Oklahoma, an area that was actually intended for the Chickasaw. In 1841 they were driven out by the US Army, but the Creek Nation agreed to take them in. One band settled on Wildhorse Creek and the second on the Canadian River . At the invitation of the government of Texas, part of the Kickapoo band returned to Texas from the Canadian River in 1842 and settled on the Brazos River . This created a third volume. There was now the Mothakuck in Texas, the Papequah on the Wildhorse River, and the Pecan on the Canadian River. Each of these groups developed a different form of livelihood. The Mothakuck hunted, caught wild animals and traded in their skins and furs, the Papequah sold other goods to the Comanche , while the Pecan protected the Creek from raids by the Osage.

In 1849 the Mexican government offered Kickapoo land in the eastern state of Coahuila . They should settle there and protect the area against attacks by the Apache and Comanche. All of northern Mexico suffered from the raids of these tribes at that time. A band under Chief Papiquan accepted the offer and moved to Mexico in 1850. By 1857, the Mexican Kickapoo had grown to over 1,000 people, while only around 300 tribal members lived in Kansas. The Mothakuck moved from Texas to Big Beaver Creek in Oklahoma and from there launched a series of raids on Texas settlements, sometimes killing hundreds of horses. After Texas Rangers and the US Army attacked the neighboring Comanche in 1860, the Mothakuck fled to their relatives in eastern Oklahoma.

American Civil War

In the American Civil War (1861-1865) the Texas Kickapoo moved as an ally of the Union to southern Kansas and fought against the allied tribes of the Confederate in Oklahoma. They then moved south towards Mexico and around 1865 reached Nacimiento in Coahuila, where their tribesmen had lived since 1839. Other groups followed, so that by the end of 1865 only a few Kickapoo lived in Kansas. All the rest had left the United States. On their way to Mexico, some groups were attacked by the Confederate cavalry and numerous Kickapoo were killed. As a result, Mexican kickapoo raided white settlements in southern Texas in retaliation. These sporadic attacks continued after the civil war. They captured horses and cattle and took hostages, which they released for a ransom. In 1873 the Kickapoo raids had developed into an ongoing conflict along the Rio Grande and even extended to central Texas north of the Nueces River . By escaping over the Rio Grande, the Kickapoo were regularly able to evade their pursuers. Colonel Ranald Slidell MacKenzie was authorized in 1874 to undertake a secret, illegal border crossing with the 4th US Cavalry and to attack Nacimiento. The Americans killed numerous Kickapoo warriors, kidnapped forty women and children and took them to Fort Gibson , Oklahoma. After long negotiations, around 800 Kickapo and black Seminoles moved to a reservation in Oklahoma and got their imprisoned family members back. The rest of the Kickapoo stayed in Nacimiento.

Kicking Kickapoo

After 1875, the Bureau of Indian Affairs pressured the Kickapoo to accept the US government's offers. This included land allocation, compulsory upbringing for children and similar measures for slow acculturation . Most Kickapoo refused, except for a progressive faction from Kansas who came to Oklahoma in 1875. In 1891 the leaders of both groups were asked to sign a document confirming the land allocation for their reserve and the sale of the surplus area. The progressive faction eventually accepted the land allocation, while the conservative faction refused. This group, later called "Kicking Kickapoo", caused so much trouble and trouble that a special agent was assigned to them.

Two-thirds of the Kickapoo in Oklahoma belonged to the conservative group that faced an exploitative and corrupt official. Her former agent persuaded her to move back to Mexico and helped them migrate . Then he sold their land on his own account. In 1905 only the progressive faction of the Kickapoo lived in Oklahoma. The dissidents first settled in Nacimiento and then moved to northern Sonora . The fraudulent agent was later convicted of corruption and punished, although illegal land sales were common during this period and hardly ever prosecuted. The illegal sale was finally revised in 1914 when the land was returned to the Kickapoo. Still, the emigrants did not return to Oklahoma until the late 1920s.

Today's tribes / bands of the Kickapoo

Today there are three federally recognized tribes in the United States: Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. The Mexico Kickapoo maintain close political and family contacts with the bands in Texas and Oklahoma. The different tribes or groups of the Kickapoo cross the Mexican-American border several times a year in order to maintain contact with one another, in particular to take part in religious ceremonies in Mexico in February and March. In 1979 the Mexico Kickapoo asked for clarification of their status, as they had no clear legal status in either the United States or Mexico. In 1983, Congress passed a law that recognized them as an official subgroup of the Oklahoma Kickapoo and granted the Texas Kickapoo state recognition at the federal level as a tribe. In 1985, a law allowed the Texas Kickapoo to choose Mexican or US citizenship, 145 tribesmen chose to become US citizens, and the remaining 500 or so tribesmen chose Mexican citizenship. In fact, politically, the Texas Kickapoo and the Mexico Kickapoo form a cross-border nation called the "Kickapoo of Coahuila / Texas".

The Oklahoma Kickapoo, Texas Kickapoo, and especially the Mexico Kickapoor are often cited as examples of backwardness and are considered the most conservative Native American society in North America. This judgment is related to their history and their rejection of the American way of life . The cause of this conservatism is evidently to be found in religion. Betty A. Dillingham compared this tribe to a religious sect in 1963 , a comparison that to some extent also applies to the Fox (Meskwaki) .

Kansas Kickapoo

The Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas (officially: Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas ) lives in the small Kickapoo Indian Reservation in Kansas in Brown County in northeast Kansas. Today's reservation extends over approx. 78 m². Its administrative headquarters are in the city of Horton. In 1960 the Kansas Kickapoo counted only 363 tribal members and were a little known to the public. Culturally, they were strongly influenced by the neighboring prairie band Potawatomi Nation (the linguistic and cultural differences are therefore small), both tribes were occasionally confused, so during the termination (attempt to dissolve all tribes and reservations and their relocation to the cities) were demanded that the Potawatomi should be disbanded as a tribe and deprived of their rights; however, this collective term meant all four of the Kansas-based tribes: the Potawatomi themselves, the Kansas Kickapoo, the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, and the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska . Nevertheless, they kept their own identity, have groups of names and show other characteristic features of the Kickapoo society. In addition to the Kenekuk religion, there are various rituals, the drum cult and the Native American Church . This distinguishes the Kansas Kickapoo from the rest of the tribe, which are generally more conservative and traditional.

Oklahoma Kickapoo

The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma had 379 enrolled members in 1953. Their preferred residential area is along the North Canadian River within the boundaries of their former reservation.

Texas Kickapoo

The tribe was officially recognized as a state-recognized tribe by the Texas Indian Commission in 1977 , and in 1982 it was recognized as an official subgroup of the Oklahoma Kickapoo, so that they could acquire their own reservation under the control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs instead of the state of Texas. Finally, in 1985 he was officially recognized as a federally-recognized tribe at the federal level, which enabled him to purchase the approximately 118 hectare Kickapoo Indian Reservation in the municipality of today's Rosita, Maverick County on the Rio Grande south of Eagle Pass .

Mexico Kickapoo

The Tribu Kikapú is a binational tribe, some tribesmen live in both Mexico and the United States. The Mexico Kickapoo had 387 members in 1954 and owns a 7,000 hectare reserve northwest of Nacimiento. They live there in a central settlement that is unprecedented in North American society, while the activities for a living, such as B. Hunting and farm work, take place outside the reserve. Tools and activities for a living follow the traditional pattern. A few other small Kickapoo / Kikapú groups live in the Mexican states of Sonora and Durango.

Demographics

Mooney estimated the number of Kickapoo before contact with Europeans at around 2,000. Reliable estimates from the 17th century are not available. Spanish data from the late eighteenth century put a total of 2,700 tribe members, 1,200 each for the Prairie and Vermilion Band and about 300 who lived west of the Mississippi. By 1832 there were a total of 2,000 people, of which 350 were members of the Kenekuk Band in Illinois, 400 lived on the Missouri reservation, around 900 in Oklahoma and 300 in Texas. Later figures refer to annual payment recipients in Kansas only. Around 1875 there were 706 kickapos in Kansas and Oklahoma and about 350 in Mexico. In 1905 there were 185 tribesmen in Kansas, 247 in Oklahoma, and an estimated 400 in Mexico.

According to the US census from 2000, there were 3,384 in Kansas, 137 in Oklahoma, and 3 in Texas.

reception

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Kickapoo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meskwaki Settlement School - Meskwakiatoweni (Meskwaki Language)
  2. ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15: Northeast. P. 648.
  3. ↑ “Mascouten” is mostly derived from a Fox word meaning “small prairie folk”, the often widespread meaning of “fire nation” is probably misleading; According to one Jesuit, the misrepresentation of some letters changed the whole meaning of the word from "little prairie" to "fire". The Jesuit's statement could be supported by the Sauk terms Mashkotêwi ("prairie") or Mashkotêwineniwa (" prairie Indian ") and shkotêwi ("fire").
  4. ↑ Meskwaki Settlement School Mission and Vision ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.msswarriors.org
  5. ↑ a b Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast, p. 656
  6. ↑ English - Ojibwe Dictionary: Kickapoo
  7. ↑ a b c d e Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 656/657
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 658/659
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 660/661
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h Kickapoo History , accessed January 20, 2013
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 662/663
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, pp. 664/665
  13. ↑ a b c d e Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast, p. 666
  14. ↑ US Census 2000 (PDF; 145 kB), accessed on January 23, 2013
  15. ^ Edgar Allan Poe , accessed January 24, 2013