Kennekuk
Keannekeuk (c. 1790–1852), also known as the "Kickapoo Prophet", was a Kickapoo medicine man and spiritual leader of the Vermilion band of the Kickapoo nation. He lived in East Central Illinois much of his life along the Vermilion River[1] and led a community of followers, whose beliefs centered on non-violence, passive resistance to resettlement, abstinence from alcohol, and meditation.[2] He favored moderate, nonviolent accommodation and coexistence with American westward expansion, and a settled agricultural life. These views caused him and his followers to suffer derision and alienation from some of the other Kickapoo bands. His tribal community's religious outlook embodied a type of Christian evangelism in some respects and a group of Potawatomi converts joined his following over time. He died on the reservation in Kansas in 1852.
Reverend William H. Honnell, who visited a few years after Kennekuk's death, reported that Kennekuk went back and forth between Christian teachings and "heathenism."[3]
Some Kickapoo descendants still follow the tenets of his preaching.[4]
References
- ^ Herring, Joseph B., Kenekuk: The Kickapoo Prophet. University of Kansas Press, 1988, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Student Britannica
- ^ "Reminiscences of Reverend William H. Honnell". Kansas Memory. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
- ^ Kickapoos: Lords of the Middle Border pgs 109–118
External links
- "Portrait of Kennekuk, "The Kickapoo Prophet"". Kansas Memory. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
- "Kennekuk's prayer-stick illustration". Kansas Memory. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
- "George Remsburg Papers". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved December 12, 2012. Contains a rather detailed study of Keannakuk (Kennekuk)