Sonoran Indigenous Groups
The Kikapú People of Northeastern Sonora, Mexico
The Sonora Kikapú ethnic group is related to the Algonquin Kickapoo Indians that originated in the Upper Midwest of the United States and now have three federally recognized groups north of the border – in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
The word Kickapoo comes from their word “Kiwigapawa,” or “he moves from here to there.” The origin of the name Kikapú has also been connected to the word “Kikaapoa,” which means “the ones that go by land.”
History
In 1824, the Kikapú requested and received permission from the Mexican government to live in Texas. After Texas became a state in 1850, a group of Kickapoo left Texas to move to the Mexican state of Coahuila, where the Mexican government granted them land 32 kilometers north of the town of Múzquiz, Coahuila. This became their Hacienda de Nacimiento, or “El Nacimiento de la Tribu Kikapú,” the birthplace of the Kikapú Tribe.
A group of 200 Kikapús moved from Coahuila to purchase land in Sonora in 1904, where they established “El Nacimiento” in the pueblo of Tamichopa, in the municipality of Bacerac, located in the Sierra Madre Occidental region of northeast Sonora.
Present day
Fewer than 50 live in Tamichopa today, a steady decrease attributed to a lack of economic opportunity. They no longer speak the native language.
An act by the U.S. Congress in 1983 granted Mexican Kikapús status as a subgroup of the Oklahoma Kickapoo tribe. Even though the Sonora Kikapú are not native to the region, they are still considered to be a Sonoran ethnic group because they have had a presence in the state for more than 100 years.
Religion and culture
The Kikapú believe in a deity named Kitzihaiata who selected them to live on this earth and therefore they must fulfill his mandates, live in harmony with nature and be prepared for the end of the world. Deer are central to their daily life and they believe that every deer killed is reborn. A fire burns constantly in every house, as a reminder to pray to Kitzihaiata.
There are several rituals that are observed at times such as the new year, baptisms and hunts. They always involve deer meat, which often includes eating the tongue of a deer. Other ritual characteristics include fasting and other personal sacrifice, prayers and sacred fires.
Traditionally a hunter-gatherer group, hunting is still very important to the culture, though the Kikapú began to practice small-scale agriculture in the last century, to include growing crops and collecting tree nuts and chile pequin, a hot chili that is used as a flavoring for food.
Kikapú artisans also make products from deerskin leather and adorned with beads, such as pants, other types of garments and tehua sandals.
Every member of the tribe has three names. The group gathers after the birth of a child to decide its first name, in the Kikapú language.
The second name is a Spanish name, the one that person will be known by throughout their life. And the third name is a secret name that only that person will know, and it will not be used until that person dies.
With an ongoing decline of tribal members, at some point this Sonoran indigenous group could potentially disappear. But so far, the Sonora Kikapú have remained as a distinct ethnic group, due to their strong sense of identity and cultural traditions.
Sources:
Wikipedia – Kickapoo People
Wikipedia – Mexican Kickapoo
El Imparcial – Kikapús y Su Memoria Ancestral
SonoraTravel website