They Stand Here and There: the Kickapoo

The Kickapoo are an Algonquian-speaking people sometimes classified as Eastern Woodlands Natives or a Plains tribe, depending on the particular band.  They originated in Wisconsin, where they were first encountered by Jesuit missionaries in the 1600's, and some bands ended up in Texas or Mexico by the 19th Century.  Their history shows just how severely one tribe could be splintered and displaced by White settlement.

The name Kickapoo may originate from an Algonquian word meaning, "they stand here, now there", referring to the nomadic nature of this tribe.  Some sources believe they originated as far east as Michigan, although that isn't certain.  Closely allied with the Sac and Fox tribes, when they were encountered by Jesuit missionaries, they ranged between the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers. They joined Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763 and, along with the Sac, Fox, Ottawa and Potawatomi displaced another tribe, the Illinois.  They set up their new homes by the Illinois River.  There the tribe split.  A Western or Prairie Band headed to the Sangamon River in what is now Illinois.  Others headed to the Vermilion River, a tributary of the Wabash.  For this reason, Kickapoo are classified as both Woodlands and Plains Algonquian. 

The Kickapoo were part of the Western Confederacy in the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795).  They also allied with Tecumseh during his revolt (1811-1813).  By 1819, some bands were willing to give up their lands in Illinois.  Other Kickapoo, including leaders Mecina and Kennekuk, sometimes called the Kickapoo Prophet, tried everything they could to delay their people's departure, from fighting to making up excuses not to leave.  Kickapoo warriors led raids on settlements and military camps.  However, by the Black Hawk War of 1832, the Kickapoo had to live Illinois entirely and relocated to Missouri. 

Then, some Kickapoo drifted further into Kansas.  This group became the nucleus of the federally recognized Kickapoo Tribe of Indians.  Another group migrated to Oklahoma, where they became the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma.  Still others, in 1839, began migrating through Texas and down into Mexico.  Known as Mexican Kickapoo, they became the Texas Band of Kickapoo.  Today, descendants of the Mexican Kickapoo live in Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma and have the right to travel and live in either of the three locations.