It is most closely related to Sauk and Fox and is also similar to other central Algonkian languages such as Shawnee, Potawatomi, Menominee, and Ojibwa. The Kickapoo language is of the Algonkian family. At present, all three groups are roughly equal in population with between 650 and 750 members each. This population was probably split into at least three bands. It has been estimated that they numbered 2,000 in 1650. Owing to the Kickapoo's migratory adaptation and their tendency to disperse and recombine in Different groups, accurate population figures have always been difficult to obtain.

Many members of the last group have dual residency near Eagle Pass, Texas, and continue a migratory life-style that takes them throughout Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota as agricultural workers.ĭemography. Today they comprise three groups living respectively near Horton, Kansas McCloud, Oklahoma and Melchor Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico. Aboriginally, they ranged throughout the southern Great Lakes Region, eventually being pushed west and south in the wake of European contact. Because of their nomadic nature, the Kickapoo cannot be assigned to a specific geographic area. These far-reaching migrations were probably responsible for an earlier translation that indicated that the term Kiwikapawa meant 'he moves about, standing here, now there,' today known to be linguistically impossible. The variety of the other names by which they are known, however, demonstrates the extent of their contacts with other groups, ranging from the Great Lakes region to Mexico. The name 'Kickapoo' no longer has any evident meaning to the Kickapoo people other than that is how they refer to themselves.

ETHNONYMS: Igabu, Kikapu, Kiikaapoa, Kiwegapaw, Kiwikapawa, Ontarahronon, Shakekahquah, Shikapo Orientation

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