'Kickapoo' entry from Hodge's Handbook

Abstract: The 'Kickapoo' entry from Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, edited by Frederick Webb Hodge (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 30. GPO: 1910.)

Authors: James Mooney of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Kickapoo (from Kiwigapawa [i = short i], 'he stands about, or 'he moves about, standing now here, now there'). A tribe of the central Algonquian group, forming a division with the Sauk and Foxes, with whom they have close ethnic and linguistic connection. The relation of this division is rather with the Miami, Shawnee, Menominee, and Peoria than with the Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Ottawa.

History. -- The people of this tribe, unless they are hidden under a name not yet known to be synonymous, first appear in history about 1667-70. At this time they were found by Allouez near the portage between Fox and Wisconsin rs. Verwyst (Missionary Labors, 1886) suggests Alloa, Columbia co., Wis., as the probable locality, about 12 m. s. of the mixed village the Mascouten, Miami, and Wea. No tradition of their former home or previous wanderings has been recorded; but if the name Outitchakouk mentioned by Druillettes (Jes. Rel. 1658, 21, 1858) refers to the Kickapoo, which seems probable, the first mention of them is carried back a few years, but they were then in the same locality. Le Sueur (1699) mentions, in his voyage up the Mississippi, the river of the Quincapous (Kickapoo), above the mouth of the Wisconsin, which he says was "so called from the name of a nation which formerly dwelt on its banks." This probably refers to Kickapoo r., Crawford co., Wis., though it empties into the Wisconsin, and not into the Mississippi. Rock r., Ill., was for a time denominated the "River of the Kickapoos," but this is much too far s. to agree with the stream mentioned by Le Sueur. A few years later a part at least of the tribe appears to have moved s. and settled somewhere about Milwaukee r. They entered into the plot of the Foxes in 1712 to burn the fort at Detroit. On the destruction of the Illinois confederacy, about 1765, by the combined forces of the tribes N. Of them, the conquered country was partitioned among the victors, the Sauk and Foxes moving down to the Rock r. country, while the Kickapoo went farther s., fixing their headquarters for a time at Peoria. They appear to have gradually extended their range, a portion centering about Sangamon r., while another part pressed toward the E., establishing themselves on the waters of the Wabash, despite the opposition of the Miami and Piankashaw. The western band became known as the Prairie band, while the others were denominated the Vermilion band, from their residence on Vermilion r., a branch of the Wabash. They played a prominent part in the history of this region up to the close of the War of 1812, aiding Tecumseh in his efforts against the United States, while many Kickapoo fought with Black Hawk in 1832,. In 1837 Kickapoo warriors to the number of 100 were engaged by the United States to go, in connection with other western Indians, to fight the Seminole of Florida. In 1809 they ceded to the United States their lands on Wabash and Vermilion rs., and in 1819 all their claims to the central portion of Illinois. Of this land, as stated in the treaty, they "claim a large portion by descent from their ancestors, and the balance by conquest from the Illinois nation, and uninterrupted possession for more than half a century." They afterward removed to Missouri and thence to Kansas. About the year 1852 a large party left the main body, together with some Potawatomi, and went to Texas and thence to Mexico, where they became known as "Mexican Kickapoo." In 1863 they were joined by another dissatisfied party from the tribe. The Mexican band proved a constant source of annoyance to the border settlements, and efforts were made to induce them to return, which were so far successful that in 1873 a number were brought back and settled in Indian Ter. Others have come in since, but the remainder, constituting at present nearly half the tribe, are now settled on a reservation, granted them by the Mexican government, in the Santa Rosa mts. of E. Chihuahua.

Customs and Beliefs. --The Kickapoo lived in fixed villages, occupying bark houses in the summier and flag-reed oval lodges during the winter. They raised corn, beans, and squashes, and while dwelling on the E. side of the Mississippi they often wandered out on the plains to hunt buffalo. On these hunting. trips they came to know the horse, and previous to the Civil war they had gone as far as Texas for the sole purpose of stealing horses and mules from the Comanche. No other Algonquians of the central group were more familiar with the Indians of the plains than the Kickapoo; and yet, with all this contact, their culture has remained essentially the same as that of the Sauk and the Foxes.

Like the Sauk and Foxes they believe in a cosmic substance prevailing throughout all nature, and the objects endowed with the mystic property are given special reverence. Far in the past they claim to have practised the Midéwiwin; but to-day their most sacred ceremony is the Kigänowini, the feast dance of the clans. The dog is held in special veneration and is made an object of sacrifice and offering to the manitos. The mythology is rich and is characterized by a mass of beast fable. The great cosmic myth centers about the death of the younger brother of the culture-hero, whose name is Wisa käa . To him they attribute all the good things of this world and the hope of life in the spirit world, over which the younger brother presides. The brothers are idealized as youths.

The gentile system prevailed, and marriage was outside of the gens. The name had an intimate connection with the gens, and children followed the gens of the father. The gentes today are Water, Tree, Berry, Thunder, Man, Bear, Elk, Turkey, Bald-eagle, Wolf, and Fox.

Population. -- In 1759 the population of the Kickapoo was estimated at about 3,000; in 1817 at 2,000, and in 1825 at 2,200. Since the last-mentioned date they have greatly decreased. In 1875 those in Kansas and Indian Ter. together, including all of those recently brought from Mexico, were officially reported to number 706, while 100 more where supposed to be in Mexico, making a total for the tribe of about 800. In 1885 those in the United States numbered about 500, of whom 235 were in Kansas, while the Mexican band in Indian Ter. (including some Potawatomi) numbered about 325. It is supposed that there were at the same time about 200 living in Mexico. Those in the United States in 1905 were officially reported at 432, of whom 247 were in Oklahoma and 185 in Kansas. There are supposed to be about 400 or more in Mexico. Within the last two years there has been considerable effort by private parties to procure the removal of the Oklahoma band also to Mexico.

The following are known as Kickapoo villages: Etnataek (with Sauk and Foxes), Kickapougowi, and Neconga.

(J. M. W. J.)

A/-uyaX. --Gatschet, Tonkawe MS., B.A. E., 1884 ('deer eaters' from a/ -u deer, ya/Xa 'to eat': Tonkawa -name). Gîgabu. -- Gatschet, Fox, MS., B.A. E., 1882 (Fox name; plural Gígabuhak). Gikapu. -- Gatschet, ibid. (Fox name). Gokapatagans. -- Bacqueville de la Potherie, Hist. De l'Amér, IV, 224, 1753 (perhaps idential). Hígabu. -- Dorsey, C egiha [C = line through the C] MS. vocab., B.A.E., 1878 (Omaha and Ponca name). Hika/pu [k = inverted k].  -- Dorsey, Tciwere MS. vocab., B. A. E., 1879 (Iowa, Oto, and Missouri name). I/-ka-du / [u = short u]. -- Dorsey, MS. Osage vocab., B. A. E., 1883 (Osage name). Kackapoes. -- Dalton (1783) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Co11., 1st S., X, 123, 1809. Kecapos.-Croghan (1759) in Rupp, West. Pa., app., 132, 1846. Kecopes. -- Croghan, (1760) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th S., IX, 250,1871. Ke-ga-boge. -- Morgan, Consang. and Affin., 288 1871. Kehabous. -- McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, III, 79, 1854 (misprint). Kekapos. -- Croghan (1759) in Rupp, West. Pa., app., 134, 1846. Kekapou. -- Doc. of 1695 in N.Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IX, 619,1855. Kekaupoag. -- Tanner, Narrative, 315, 1830 (Ottawa name). Kicapoos. -- Croghan (1765) in Craig, Olden Time, 409,1846. Kicapous. -- Johnson, (1772) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VIII, 292, 1857. Kicapoux. -- Doc of 1748, ibid., X, 150, 1858. Kicapus. -- Rafinesque, introd. Marshall, Ky., I, 38, 1824. Kiccapoos. -- Croghan (1765) in Monthly Am. Jour. Geol., 263, 1831. Kichapacs. -- Writer of 1786 in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st S. III, 26, 1794. Kickapoos. -- Croghan (1765) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VII, 780, 1856. Kickapos. -- German Flats conf. (1770), ibid., VIII, 244, 1857. Kickapous. -- Chauvignerie (1736), ibid., IX, 1055, 1855. Kickipoo. -- Gale, Upper Miss., map, 1867. Kicoagoves. -- Barcia, Ensayo, 238,1723 (mentioned with Miami and Mascoutin). Kicoapous. -- Tonti, Rel. de la Louisiane, 82, 1720. Kicopoux. -- Chauvignerie (1736) in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 554, 1853. Kikabeux. -- Marquette, Discov., 322, 1698. Kikabons. -- Bacqueville de la Potherie, Hist. de l'Amér., II, 49, 1753. Kikabou. -- Jes. Rel. 1670, 100, 1858. KiKaboua. -- Jes. Rel. 1672, LVIII, 40, 1899. Kikábu. -- Dorsey, Kansa MS. vocab., B. A. E.,1882 (Kansa name). Kikapaus. -- Hennepin, Cont. of New Discov., map, 1698. Kikapoes. -- Vincennes treaty (1803) in U. S. Ind. Treat., 383,1873. Kikapoos. -- Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 351, 1816. Kikapous. -- Hennepin, New Discov., 132, 1698. Kikap8s. -- Vaudreuil (1719) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IX, 893,1855. Kikapoux. -- Frontenac (1682), ibid., 182. Kikapouz. -- Coxe, Carolana, 18, 1741. Kikapu. -- Gatschet, Potawatomi MS., B. A. E., 1878 ( Potawatomi name; plural Kíkapug). Kikapus. Loskiel, Hist. Miss. United Breth., pt. 1, 2, 1794. Kikkapoos. -- Barton, New Views, XXXIII, 1798. Kikpouz. -- Coxe, Carolana, 50, 1741. Kispapous. Longueuil (1752) in N.Y. Doc. Col. Hist., X, 246, 1858 (misprint). Qnicapous -Tonti, Rel. de la Louisiane, 99, 1720 (misprint). Quicapause --Lattré, map, 1784. Quicapons. -- Esnauts and Rapilly, map, 1777 (misprint). Quicapous. -- De Bourain (l700) in Margry, Déc., VI, 73, l886. Quinaquois. -- McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, III, 80, 1854. Quincapous. -- Iberville (1700) in Neill, Minn., 154, 1858. Ricapous. -- Conf. of 1766 in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VII, 860, 1856 (misprint). Rickapoos. -- Croghan (1765), ibid. (misprint). Shack-a-po. -- H.R. Rep. 299, 44th Cong., 1st sess.. 1, 1876 ('"known to us as Kickapoos"). Shake-kah-quah. --Marcy, Explor. Red R., 273,1854 (Wichita name). Shígapo. -- Gatsheet, Apache MS., B. A. E., 1884 (so called by Apache and other southern tribes). Shikapu. -- Ibid. (Apache name). Sik/ -a-pu. --ten Kate, Synonymie, 10, 1884 (Comanche name). Tékapu. -- Gatschet, Wyandot MS. B.A.E., 1881 (Huron name). Yuntara /ye-ru/nu. -- Ibid. ('tribe living around the lakes': another Huron name).


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