There are three recognized tribes remaining in the US - the Kickapoo of Kansas, the Kickapoo of Oklahoma, and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. There is a further group in Coahuila, Mexico. Around 3,000 people claim to be tribe members.
The tribe originated in the Michigan-Ohio area and were once indistinct from the Shawnee. Conflict between the Shawnee and the Iroquois from the 1640s forced the tribe west into Wisconsin. In the 1700s the tribe moved again, by 1770 they had resettled in the Wabash Valley and the general around towards central Illinois.
After pressure from colonists the tribe moved west, resisting by retreating rather than assimulating or fighting. They ceded their land east of the Mississippi River by treaty and reached Missouri around 1820; some of the tribe remained in Illinois and were forced out by the US military in 1834. They absorbed the Mascouten tribe during the move. Many moved on from Missouri in the 1830s, and split, heading south and west into Kansas and Texas. The US government moved them several times more, sending the tribe in Missouri to a reservation in Kansas in the late 1830s. A large group moved into northern Mexico around 1850, joining with smaller groups already residing there; more Kickapoo followed them into Mexico in 1857 and 1863. When some attempted to return from Mexico they were sent to Oklahoma.
The Traditional Tribe of Texas was not recognized until 1983, having previously been part of the group living in Coahuila.
The Kickapoo are Algonquian and the tribe name comes from the word Kiwegapawa, meaning "he stands about". The language is related to Shawnee and Mesquakie-Sauk.
Also: Lake Kickapoo