KICKAPOO INDIANS

KICKAPOO ARE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO LIVED TO LAKE ERIE AND MICHIGAN. THEIR NAME IS DERIVED FROM AN ALGONQUIN WORD, AND IT MEANS HE STANDS OUT OR MOVES ABOUT. THEIR LANGUAGE IS SIMILAR TO THE SIOUX, FOX, AND THE SHAWNEES. THE KICKAPOO BELIEVE THAT THEY AND THE SHAWNEE WERE ONCE ONE PEOPLE. AFTER A DISAGREEMENT THE TRIBES SPLIT.


THEY LIVE IN PERMANENT VILLAGES IN THE SUMMER AND THEY BUILT LONGHOUSES. IN THE WINTER TIMES THEY WOULD BREAK INTO SMALL GROUPS AND GO INTO CAMPS. PRINCIPAL CROPS THAT WERE GROWN WERE CORN, SQUASH, AND BEANS. THEY HUNTED BUFFALO IN THE WINTER TIME AND THEY GAINED ACCESS TO THE HORSE WHICH WAS USED TO HUNT BUFFALO.


THERE MAY HAVE BEEN 4000 ORIGINALLY. IN 1684 FRENCH TRADERS ESTIMATED THERE WERE 2500 IN 1684 LIVING IN KANSAS, OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS. IN 1650'S THE KICKAPOO WERE INVADED BY TRIBES WHO HAD MOVED TO THE GREAT LAKES. THE IROQUOIS FORCED THEM TO LEAVE THE HOMELAND AND SETTLE IN SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. THEY DISCOVERED THEIR CROPS DIDN'T GROW AS WELL HERE. SO HUNTING WAS THEIR MAIN SOURCE OF SUSTENANCE. BEFORE LONG THE AREA WAS HUNTED OUT. THE RESULTING LACK OF FOOD COUPLED WITH EUROPEAN DISEASES, RESULTED IN UNHAPPY TIMES. NICOLAS PERROT ESTABLISHED A TRADING POST ON THE MISSISSIPPI. UNFORTUNATELY THEY ALLIED WITH THE FRENCH AND FOUGHT THE IROQUOIS FOR 14 YEARS AND FINALLY DEFEATED THEM. THEY ALSO FOUGHT THE FOX FOR THREE YEARS AND FINALLY THEY AGREED TO PEACE TERMS.


DURING THE 1700'S THE KICKAPOO SEPARATED INTO TWO SEPARATE BANDS. THE PRAIRIE BAND LIVED IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND THE VERMILLION BAND WERE FRIENDLY AND LIVED IN ILLINOIS.


THE KICKAPOO'S RELIGION ENTERED INTO EVERY FACET OF THEIR LIFE. THEY BELIEVE IN A SPIRIT WHO IS 'KISIIHIAT', WHO CREATED THE WORLD AND LIVES IN THE SKY. HE CREATEDTHE WORLD AND HAD ASSISTANCE TO THE SPIRIT MESSENGERS. THEY HAVE A CULTURE HERO WHO CREATED THE INDIAN WORLD AND TAUGHT THE KICKAPOO TO BUILD THEIR HOUSES. THEIR RELIGION IS ORGANIZED AROUND SACRED BUNDLES FOR HERBAL SOCIETIES. THEY HAVE A CYCLE OF CEREMONY THAT PLAYS A PART IN THEIR CULTURAL INTEGRATION IN MEXICO AND OKLAHOMA. THEY CELEBRATE THEIR NEW YEAR IN FEBRUARY AND THEN THEY HAVE THIS CYCLE OF CEREMONIES. FESTIVALS INCLUDE THE CLAN AND BUNDLES. SPECIAL CERMONIAL FOODS PLAY A ROLE IN THE FOODS THAT ARE EATEN. THEY PLAY DRUMS, FLUTES, AND RATTLES AND DANCE TO THE SONGS SUNG DURING CEREMONIES. THE BUFFALO AND WOMEN DANCE ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH TREATING ILLNESS AND INFERTILITY. THEY ALSO USE ALL TRADITIONAL MEDICINES TOO.

SOME CURRENT INDIANS MAKE PAINTED MASKS OUT OF WOOD AND ADD FEATHER HEADDRESSES. THEY ALSO MADE THEIR OWN CLOTHING OUT OF DEER HIDE AND DECORATED IT WITH SHELLS.





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