What language do the Kickapoo Indians speak?
In Mexico and Oklahoma, many Kickapoos still speak their traditional Kickapoo language. In fact, the Kickapoo tribes need this language to communicate with each other, because most Mexican Kickapoos do not speak English. Very few Kickapoo Indians in Kansas or Texas still speak their native language, but some young people are working to learn it. Kickapoo is a tone language, like Chinese. That means the pitch of a vowel can change a Kickapoo word’s meaning. Because of this, Kickapoo can sound very musical when it is spoken. If you’d like to know some easy Kickapoo words, “ho” (pronounced like the English word “hoe”) is a friendly greeting and “kepiihcihi” (pronounced keh-pee-chih-hih) means “thank you.” You can see a Kickapoo picture glossary here. What was Kickapoo culture like in the past? What is it like now? None of the Kickapoo tribes has an online home page, but here is a link to the Kickapoo page on the Texas Indians website. They have information on the culture and history of th
