Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
interior of a Kickapoo wickiup in Indian Territory, 1880
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,630 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Oklahoma) |
|
| Languages | |
| Kickapoo, English | |
| Religion | |
| traditional tribal religion, Native American Church, Christianity (Protestant) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
|
Sac and Fox Nation and other Algonquian peoples |
The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma is one of three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes in the United States. There are also Kickapoo tribes in Kansas, Texas, and Mexico. The Kickapoo are a Woodland tribe, who speak an Algonquian language. They are affiliated with the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, and the Mexican Kickapoo.
The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma is headquartered in McLoud, Oklahoma, and their tribal jurisdictional area is in Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, and Lincoln Counties. Of the 2,630 enrolled tribal members, 1,856 live within the state of Oklahoma. Membership to the tribe requires a minimum blood quantum of 1/4 Kickapoo descent.
The tribe's Chairman is Gilbert Salazar, who replaces Marilyn Winsea. The tribe operates its own housing authority and issues tribal vehicle tags.
The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma owns a gas station, a smoke shop, and a casino. Their estimated annual economic impact was $16 million in 2010. Kickapoo Casino is located in McLoud, Oklahoma. In 2012 the tribe established plans to open a second casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma which was scheduled for an August, 2012 opening.
About 400 tribal members speak the Kickapoo language. It is one of the few Oklahoma tribal languages spoken by children today.
Kickapoo comes from their word "Kiwigapawa," which roughly translates into "he moves from here to there." The tribe is part of the central Algonquian group and has close ethnic and linguistic connections with the Sac and Fox. The Kickapoo were first recorded in history in about 1667-70 at the confluence of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Under pressure from the Menominee, the Kickapoo and their allies moved south and west into southern Michigan, northern Iowa, Ohio and Illinois. A treaty dated 7 June 1803 between the U.S. Government and the Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River, Wea, Kickapoo, Piankeshaw, and Kaskaskia tribes occupying the country watered by the Ohio, Wabash and Miami Rivers and a subsequent treaty dated 7 August 1803 ceded lands previously granted in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 by General Anthony Wayne, and Fort Wayne and Vincennes, Indiana. By these treaties and succeeding treaties in 1809, 1815, 1816, 1819, and 1820 the tribe ceded all their lands on the Wabash, White and Vermilion Rivers and moved into Missouri on the Osage River.
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