Kickapoo language

{{Short description|Dialect of the Fox language}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Kickapoo

| familycolor = Algic

| fam1 = Algic

| fam2 = Algonquian

| fam3 = Central Algonquian

| fam4 = Fox

| iso3 = kic

| glotto = kick1244

| glottorefname = Kickapoo

| ethnicity = Kickapoo people

| script = Latin script

| states = United States, Mexico

| nativename = Metotheeneniaatoweeheni{{Cite book |last=Bluecloud |first=Mosiah Salazar |url=https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/648609/azu_etd_18275_sip1_m.pdf?sequence=1 |title=A Sketch Grammar of the Kickapoo Language |publisher=The University of Arizona |year=2020}}

| speakers = 1,043 Kickapoo in the US

| date = 2017–2021

| ref = {{cite web |title=Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2017-2021 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/language-use/2017-2021-lang-tables.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=6 June 2025 |language=en}}

| dia1 = monolingual dialect (Peekaatowaakani)

| dia2 = Oklahoma dialect

| dia3 = Mexican/Texan dialect

| speakers2 = {{sigfig|63|1}} Kickapoo in Mexico (2020 census)[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165419/http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm |date=2016-03-03 }} INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.

}}

File:Grupo_Kikapú_en_Coahuila_México.jpg

Kickapoo (Kickapoo: {{Lang|kic|Metotheeneniaatoweeheni}}) is either a dialect of the Fox language or a closely related language, closely related to, and mutually intelligible with, the dialects spoken by the Sauk people and Meskwaki people. Their language is included in the Central Algonquian languages subgroup of the Algonquian languages family, itself a member of the Algic languages family.

In 1985, the Kickapoo Nation's School in Horton, Kansas, began a language-immersion program for elementary school grades to revive teaching and use of the Kickapoo language in kindergarten through grade 6.{{Cite journal |last=Reaves |first=Michell Reaves |date=2001-08-11 |title=Canku Ota - Aug. 11, 2001 - Indians Value Their Language |url=http://www.turtletrack.org/IssueHistory/Issues01/Co08112001/CO_08112001_Kickapoo_Language.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029030902/http://www.turtletrack.org/IssueHistory/Issues01/Co08112001/CO_08112001_Kickapoo_Language.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=October 29, 2018 |journal=Canku Ota (Many Paths), an Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America, Medill News Service |issue=42 |access-date=2012-07-19}} Efforts in language education continue at most Kickapoo sites.

In 2010, the Head Start Program at the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas reservation, which teaches the Kickapoo language, became "the first Native American school to earn Texas School Ready! (TSR) Project certification."{{Cite web |date=2010-01-26 |title=Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas First Native American Tribe to Achieve Texas School Ready! Certification |url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/kickapoo-first-native-american-tribe-to-achieve-texas-school-ready-certification |access-date=2012-07-19 |work=Newswise, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston}} Despite these efforts, there are no children who are first-language users of Kickapoo, as they choose to speak English instead.

Also in 2010, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia participated in the elaboration of a Kickapoo alphabet.{{Cite news |date=2010-04-12 |title=Kickapoo Language Prepared to be Written |url=http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37399 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316153149/http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37399 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |access-date=2012-07-19 |work=Art Daily}} The Kickapoo in Mexico are known for their whistled speech.

Texts,{{Cite web |title=OLAC resources in and about the Kickapoo language |url=http://www.language-archives.org/language/kic |access-date=2012-07-19}} recordings,{{Cite web |title=Recordings for study of the Shawnee, Kickapoo, Ojibwa, and Sauk-and-Fox :: American Philosophical Society |url=http://www.amphilsoc.org/mole/view?docId=ead/Mss.Rec.14-ead.xml;query=;brand=default |access-date=2012-07-19}} and a vocabulary{{Cite web |year=1988 |title=OLAC Record: Kickapoo vocabulary |url=http://www.language-archives.org/item/oai:gial.edu:10032 |access-date=2012-07-19}} of the language are available.

The Kickapoo language and members of the Kickapoo tribe were featured in the movie The Only Good Indian (2009), directed by Greg Wilmott and starring Wes Studi. This was a fictionalized account of Native American children forced to attend an Indian boarding school, where they were forced to speak English and give up their cultural practices.{{Cite news |date=2007-09-12 |title=Kickapoo Language, Culture to be Featured in Film |url=http://www.hiawathaworldonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=486&TM=50946.93 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810013342/http://www.hiawathaworldonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=486&TM=50946.93 |archive-date=2012-08-10 |access-date=2012-07-19 |work=Hiawatha World Online}}