s to avoid this. Years after the eastern tribes with famous names had given up the fight; the Kickapoo were still in the midst of the struggle to preserve Native America. From the beginning, the Kickapoo distrusted Europeans. French traders rarely were allowed to visit their villages, and the Kickapoo refused to even listen to the Jesuits. In later years, British and Americans fared no better. Following the American conquest of the Ohio Valley, the tribal authority of the Kickapoo disintegrated. Relocated first to Missouri and then Kansas, small bands of Kickapoo scattered across the plains warning other tribes that the white man was coming. In Kansas, white settlement closed in on them once again during the 1850s, and rather than surrender or adapt, most chose to escape by moving to northern Mexico. Although many of the Mexican Kickapoo returned to the United States during the 1870s, relatively few have converted to Christianity. The traditional Drum (or Dream) religion has the most adherents, followed by Kanakuk and the Native American Church. Of all the Kickapoo, the Mexican branch has remained the most traditional and generally has been reluctant to allow visits by outsiders. The American Kickapoo are similar in this regard. Most still speak the Kickapoo language, and they have one of the highest percentages of full bloods of any tribe in the United States.Before they met their first European, the Kickapoo felt the changes he had brought. It started during the 1640s when the Beaver Wars moved into the Great Lakes. Seeking new hunting territory for fur to trade to the French, Tionontati, Ottawa and Neutrals warriors attacked the Kickapoo and their neighbors. A full-scale invasion by the Iroquois followed during the 1650s, which forced the Kickapoo to abandon their homeland and retreat west around the south end of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin. The Kickapoo was not the only tribe displaced. Thousands...
