Friday, June 28, 1996

Kickapoo Tribe Strives For Progress, Begins Opening Up To Outsiders

By KELLY O'SHANNON
Associated Press

EAGLE PASS - On the banks of the Rio Grande, in a village of dusty roads and primitive huts, the Kickapoo Indians inhabit a world long closed to outsiders.

They speak an ancient language and cling to tribal customs. Modern-day life is blended with an age-old religion celebrated during trips to Kickapoo spiritual land in Mexico.

"The tribe loves their language and all the traditions," said tribal chairman Raul Garza, speaking in Kickapoo. "We want to keep it alive as long as we can. We don't ever want to lose it."

But Kickapoo leaders are striving for some change.

And bit by bit, it's coming their way.

One of the biggest transformations yet will occur in August, when the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas plans to open the Lucky Eagle Casino offering poker and high-stakes bingo.

Its supporters say the casino will produce jobs for the fledgling tribe. Some Kickapoos worry, though, that gambling will bring strangers and evil influences into their secluded community.
"I really don't want it here, and I feel like there is going to be corruption later on," said Sara Garza, 18, noting that some tribal members use marijuana and inhalants and she fears drug problems could worsen.

Sara Garza, who isn't related to the tribal chairman, in many ways embodies the progress Raul Garza is working to achieve. She is one of only two high school graduates this year among the 500-member tribe and hopes to attend Southwest Texas State University and become a nurse.

Most tribal members are migrant farm workers with an average education of second grade, according to tribe officials.

Figures on the median Kickapoo income are not available. The director of the reservation's Head Start preschool program estimates most families make about $7,000 annually. Some survive on as little as $1,700 a year.

Raul Garza contends the casino jobs will help young people earn money for college and prevent Kickapoo families from traveling the country to harvest crops with children riding dangerously in open truck beds.

"With the casino, I see a lot of good futures for the young tribe members," Garza said, speaking through an interpreter.

Kickapoo leaders have entered a five-year contract with Southwest Casinos to finance and run the gaming operation.

Southwest Casinos expects to spend more than $5 million on the facility, said marketing manager Jay Boyd. Neither side would provide details of the financial deal between the Indians and the Minnesota-based company.

The casino will employ about 125 workers at first. Tribal officials eventually want to expand to Class III gaming - including slot machines, dice games and roulette, said tribal administrator Roberto De La Garza.

Casino and tribal officials say they don't worry about the remote location of the Kickapoo reservation. They are counting on bingo and poker enthusiasts to come from San Antonio, Laredo and Piedras Negras, Mexico.

Lupita Jimenez, an elderly tribal member who says she doesn't remember her age, likes the casino plan.

"I am glad, because I know how to play poker," she said in Kickapoo. A graceful, well-groomed woman, Ms. Jimenez plays cards with her women friends.

Steve Jimenez, 35, who picks onions for a living, hopes to work for the Lucky Eagle Casino as a maintenance employee.

His home is one of about 40 traditional-style houses, or wickiups, on the reservation. Siding is constructed from cattail stems or boards. Roofs are pieced together from cardboard. Some of the huts are covered with plastic tarp.

Some families have no electricity or running water in their homes. Though outhouses are used, the Indians have access to central restrooms and showers.

As recently as the early 1980s the Kickapoos had no land of their own in Texas and lived beneath the international bridge between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico, about 60 miles southeast of Del Rio.

Once the Kickapoos inhabited the Great Lakes region. Indian removals in the 1800s forced the Kickapoos southward, and one band ended up in Eagle Pass and eventually in Mexico. Others moved to Oklahoma and Kansas.

The Mexican Kickapoos, as they were known, negotiated with the Mexican government for land near Nacimiento, Mexico, 120 miles south of the border, where the group lived until the 1940s.

Drought and a depleted water supply ultimately made living off that land too difficult. The Indians still use the Nacimiento land for religious purposes, including their all-important New Year's ceremonies in February.

The Mexican Kickapoos were recognized by the U.S. government as a tribe in 1983, becoming the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. At about that time they acquired their 125-acre reservation with the financial help of churches and charities.

Through the years, the Kickapoos have held firm to their traditional beliefs and for the most part have kept to themselves.

Teresita Garza, daughter of tribal chairman Raul Garza, explained the tribe is composed of clans, each having a different name and specific religious rules to follow.

All tribal members have Kickapoo names connected to their clan. Ms. Garza's Indian name is "Asoamoacua," meaning like a warrior. The Kickapoos also take Hispanic names. Garza and Jimenez are among the most popular.

Some tribal members speak English, more speak Spanish and almost all speak Kickapoo. Language has been a barrier for many in work and school.

The Indians' unique language and culture at times have subjected them to some unfriendly treatment in predominantly Hispanic Eagle Pass.

"It was kind of tough going to school here. You can say a lot of people are racist," said Sara Garza, the recent high school graduate.

Poverty and lack of jobs and education have contributed to substance abuse among some tribal members, counselors say. Inhalant abuse affects an estimated 20 percent of the tribe's adult population.

Tribal officials say they are working to solve the deep-rooted social problems that afflict the Kickapoos. They believe they are making headway.

Twenty new homes constructed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development currently are awaiting occupancy.

Sabino Garza, the tribe's human services director, is working with out-of-town groups who want to help. He envisions construction of a "community kitchen" for use by families who have no basic cooking appliances in their homes.

Tribal chairman Raul Garza views the Lucky Eagle Casino as part of the solution to finding jobs for his Kickapoo people.

"Mostly everything is going on the right track," Garza said. "I see a lot of progress for the tribe."