Originating in the Great Lakes area, the Kickapoo Indians are now divided into four groups living in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico. Considered the most traditional of all North American Indian tribes, the Kickapoo maintain much of their traditional culture, religion, and language.

The Southern Kickapoo, from which the Texas Kickapoo come, eventually settled onto 17,000 acres encompassing areas of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Nacimiento, Coahuila, Mexico. This land, which includes the Rio Sabinas and the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains, is the land of the Kickapoo Indians.

It wasn't until 1977 that the state of Texas recognized the Texas Kickapoo as a legitimate Indian tribe of the state, and this gesture paved the way for federal recognition of the tribe. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a law which recognized the citizenship of the Texas Kickapoo, gave the tribe authority to buy land, and provided the Kickapoo benefits and services allotted to all federally recognized American Indian tribes.

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