North American Indian people related to the Sauk and Fox and living in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, U.S., and northern Mexico.
The name is a variant of the Algonquin word kiwegapawa , meaning "he stands about" or "he moves about." Their language is of the Algonquian family, and they formerly inhabited what is now south-central Wisconsin, U.S. The Kickapoo were formidable warriors, whose raids took them as far as the southern and northeastern U.S. About 1765, after dispatching the Illinois Indians, they settled near Peoria, Ill., but later moved under pressure from advancing whites to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico. By the 19th century, central tribal authority had broken down and chiefs of the various bands had become autonomous. The Kickapoo resisted acculturation and sought to retain their old ways. Some 3,500 people claimed sole Kickapoo descent in the 2000 U.S. census; this figure does not include those living in Mexico.