Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas
Shawnee people[4] |
The Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas is one of three
The Kansas Kickapoo Tribe runs and owns 50 plus programs that include: a Boys and Girls Club, Kickapoo Head Start and Early Head Start, Senior Center, IHS Health Center, and the Kickapoo Nation school, which teaches grades from kindergarten through 12th grade.[3]
Reservation
The Kickapoo Indian Reservation in Kansas is located in Brown County in northeastern Kansas. The reservation is approximately five by six miles (8.0 by 9.7 km) in size[1] or 19,200 acres (78 km2).[5]
Government
The Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas is headquartered in Horton, Kansas. The tribe is governed by an elected Kickapoo Tribal Council. The current [6] administration is:
- Chairman: Gail Chatham
- Vice-Chairman: Gary Samqua
- Treasurer: Grace Ross
- Secretary: Skup Allen
- Member: Sharon Doxtator
- Member: Precilla Wakole
- Member: Jessi Blacksmith
Language
Members of the Kansas Kickapoo speak English; formerly they spoke the
Economic development
The tribe owns and operates the Golden Eagle Casino, buffet, and snack bar, located in Horton, Kansas.[7] The tribe also runs a successful farm and ranch.
History
"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
A mere decade later, in 1832, the tribe ceded their lands in Missouri and were granted a "permanent" home south of the
Using these two clauses as a basis, the local agent, William Badger, convinced the
Keith was a political ally of Senator
The Kickapoo indicated that they were unaware that the agreement had been reached and thought that they were still negotiating terms. The Kansas Attorney General, Warren William Guthrie, launched a grand jury hearing. The charges were considered serious enough that allotment was suspended and the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, William P. Dole, appointed in 1863, traveled to Kansas to investigate. In the ensuing hearings, it was alleged that Guthrie's real interest in the matter stemmed from his involvement with rival railroad Hannibal and St. Joseph. Dole returned to Washington, D.C., and submitted his report to President Abraham Lincoln on April 4, 1864.[24] Some of the frustrated Kickapoo decided to leave Kansas, and a group of about 700 headed for Mexico to join kinsmen there in September 1864.[25] In 1865, pressure from Pomeroy finally gained approval to continue with the Kickapoo allotment, although the tribe resisted. By 1869, only 93 Kickapoo had accepted fee simple allotment, the remainder preferring to continue holding their lands in common.[26]
With the enactment of the Dawes Act (February 8, 1887) and its subsequent renewals, another push toward allotting the Kansas Kickapoo began,[27][28] though the Kickapoo continued to resist.[29] A total of 237 allotments were assigned to the Kickapoo, of which all but 75 were no longer in tribal hands by 1938.[27]
Twentieth century
As the years after World War I came to a close, the seeming prosperity which had existed, evaporated in the Great Depression. A false sense of Native American prosperity based on glowing reports and images of fancily costumed Indians, caused many to reject the dire need that developed for aid.[30] In addition to the economic issues, Kansas was in the midst of a severe drought, known as the Dust Bowl. Temperatures topped 100 °F (38 °C) throughout the summer months of the mid-1930s, and in 1936 Kansas experienced the second hottest year on record. The reservation wells dried up, livestock had to be sold or given away as there was no way to hydrate them, gardens, which had been the main food source, withered.[31] Kansas officials refused to provide welfare assistance to Native people, claiming inadequate funds,[32] and federal programs to provide assistance to Indians were consistently delayed or blocked.[30] The Kickapoo Agent George G. Wren reported destitution and near starvation in 1933 and 1934, alleviated only by the tribe's ability to help each other and work projects offered by the Indian Service.[27]
Indian Reorganization Act
The
Claims Commission
On August 13, 1946 the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946, Pub. L. No. 79-726, ch. 959, passed. Its purpose was to settle for all time any outstanding grievances or claims the tribes might have against the U.S. for treaty breaches, unauthorized taking of land, dishonorable or unfair dealings, or inadequate compensation. Claims had to be filed within a five-year period, and most of the 370 complaints that were submitted[35] were filed at the approach of the 5-year deadline in August 1951.[36]
At least 6 claims were filed by the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas with the Claims Commission – some on their own behalf, and some in conjunction with the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma or other tribes with which they had made joint treaties with the U. S. Government.[37] The two largest awards were for "unconscionable consideration" (the government severely underpaid for ceded lands) from the Treaty of 1854[38] and the Treaty of 1866.[39] Though the distribution was approved via passage of Public Law 92-467 in 1972, appeals were pending into the late 1970s, as the government was offsetting the amounts awarded to the Oklahoma and Kansas Kickapoo, by the expenses incurred in capturing and relocating Mexican Kickapoo during the Texas Revolution. The U.S. government had repatriated some of the Mexican Kickapoos to a reservation in Oklahoma and a later group to Kansas in the 1860s and 1870s.[38] The final distribution plan was not approved until 1980.[40]
Threats of termination
During the period from the 1940s – 1960s, in which the Indian termination policy was enforced, four Kansas tribes, including the Kickapoo were targeted for termination. One of the first pieces of legislation enacted during this period was the Kansas Act of 1940 which transferred all jurisdiction for crimes committed on or against Indians from federal jurisdiction to the State of Kansas. It did not preclude the federal government from trying native people, but it allowed the state into an area of law in which had historically belonged only to the federal government.[41]
On August 1, 1953, the
Because jurisdiction over criminal matters had already been transferred to the State of Kansas by the passage of the Kansas Act of 1940, the government targeted the four tribes in Kansas for immediate termination.[43] In February 1954, joint hearings for the Kansas tribes were held by the House and Senate Subcommittees on Indian Affairs.[44]
The
1960s to 1980s
The tribe struggled with high unemployment and social issues from the 1950s through the 1980s, facing economic, medical and educational challenges. Government funding, which became available with the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, and the final distribution of their claims with the Indian Claims Commission, allowed the Kansas Kickapoo to construct homes for seniors and single families; build a gymnasium, day care center, and senior center; and repurchase 2,400 acres (9.7 km2) to build a farming and ranching enterprise.[49] They were also able to build a Kickapoo Nation school which serves grades K–12.[3] Most tribal members worked for the tribal enterprises or the local BIA but unemployment remained high and reached a crisis between 1980 and 1982 when it rose to 93%.[49]
Gaming
In 1992, the tribe signed an agreement with the
On May 18, 1996, the Kickapoo Tribe opened the Golden Eagle Casino, the first casino in Kansas, on the Kickapoo Reservation.[50] The casino has brought more than 300 jobs to the town of Horton, Kansas[51] and generated revenues that have helped support the tribe's initiatives for schools and health care.[52]
References
- ^ a b c "Kickapoo Tribal Government." Archived December 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas. Retrieved September 15, 2013
- ^ a b "Kickapoo." Ethnologue. Retrieved September 15, 2013
- ^ a b c Pritzker 422
- ^ Priztker 420
- ^ Pritzker 421
- ^ "Government". Kansas Kickapoo Tribe. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ Location "Golden Eagle Casino". Retrieved 22 January 2024
- ^ a b c d e "The Kickapoo Indians". Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-19-513897-9. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE DELAWARES, ETC., 1803". Oklahoma State University. June 7, 1803. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE EEL RIVER, ETC., 1803". Oklahoma State University. August 7, 1803. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1809". Oklahoma State University. December 9, 1809. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1815". Oklahoma State University. September 2, 1815. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE WEA AND KICKAPOO, 1816". Oklahoma State University. June 4, 1816. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1819". Oklahoma State University. July 30, 1819. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1819". Oklahoma State University. August 30, 1819. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1820". Oklahoma State University. July 19, 1820. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Nunley, M. Christopher (June 15, 2010). "Kickapoo Indians". Handbook of Texas (online ed.). Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ "Kickapoo". Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
- ISBN 0-8061-1264-6. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Gibson (2006), pp. 125-127
- ISBN 0-8032-5919-0.
- ^ "TREATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1862". Oklahoma State University. June 28, 1862. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Gibson (2006), pp. 129-135
- ISBN 978-1-59558-747-3.
- ^ Gibson (2006), p. 135
- ^ a b c "The Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, et al. vs. The United States of America" (PDF). Oklahoma State University. Indian Claims Commission. 1967–1968. pp. 10–11. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Executive Order: Kickapoo". Oklahoma State University. July 3, 1920. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "1891 Kansas Kickapoo Allotment Roll". Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-471-00396-4.
- ^ Mitchell, Gary (February 26, 2010). "The Great Depression Hits Potawatomi Reservation". Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ Fearon, Peter (2007). "Kansas History and the New Deal Era". Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains (Autumn): 207–208.
- ^ "Indian Reorganization Act". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Constitution and By-laws of the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation of Kansas" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "USDOJ: Environment and Natural Resources Division : Lead up to the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946". April 13, 2015.
- ISBN 0-8032-3723-5.
- ^ "An Act to provide for the disposition of funds appropriated to pay judgments in favor of the Kickspoo Indians of Kansas and Oklahoma". govtrack.us. October 6, 1972. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ a b "The Kickapoo Tribe Of Kansas, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma et al. v. The United States". Open Jurist. F2d (372): 980. 1967. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "The Kickapoo Tribe Of Kansas, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma et al. v. The United States" (PDF). Oklahoma State University. Indian Claims Commission. September 29, 1967. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ "The Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas v. Southern Plains Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs" (PDF). March 29, 2006. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ Francis, John J.; et al. "Reassessing Concurrent Tribal–State–Federal Criminal Jurisdiction in Kansas" (PDF). Kansas Law Review. 59: 967. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 17, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- ^ U.S. Statutes at Large 67:B132
- ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ISBN 9781135638542. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ C. M. BLAIR (June 30, 1927). "1927 CENSUS FOR POTAWATOMI INDIANS OF POTAWATOMI AGENCY, KANSAS".
- ^ "Potawatomi Historical Timeline". Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
- ^ "Tribal History » Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation". Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ^ Davis 1996, pp. 286–287
- ^ ISBN 0-403-09879-3. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ "Kansas State Gaming Agency: History". Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ Carter, Tyler (August 20, 2014). "New sign means new commitment in Horton". Kansas First News. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ Jessepe, Lorraine (May 23, 2012). "Kickapoo Nation, Located in One of Kansas' Least Healthy Counties, Takes on Fight Against Diabetes". Indian Country. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
Further reading
- Pritzker, Barry (2000). A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1.
External links
- Official website
- [1] Constitution and By-Laws of the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas