Kickapoo Elixer Remedy

1 1/5 th "White Whiskey" non barrel-aged whiskey, aka corn whiskey, legally made "moonshine"
20 oz. of strawberries
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 cups tea made with American ginseng root or ginger root, cloves, and pepper

1. Put cleaned and sliced strawberries in corn whiskey and let sit over a few days.

2. Boil spring water. Measure 3 cups hot water. Dissolve brown sugar in the hot water. Pour hot water over sliced ginseng root or ginger root, whole cloves, and pepper corns. Steep root and spices for 15 minutes to make a tea and then strain to remove root, cloves, and pepper corns.

3. Cover tea and let sit until cool.

4. Remove the strawberries from whiskey. Mix tea and whiskey, and drink as a flavorsome spring time restorative.

. (The tea can be mixed with seltzer water for a non-alcholic version.)

I have never made this recipe. I am not sure how old it might be--or if this reciepe was genuinely used as a 19th century medicine. It may be nothing more than a beverage with "kick" and a catchy name.

There were apparently a number of 19th century elixirs, restoratives, remedies, concoctions, etc. with different ingredients called "Kickapoo."

The name comes from the "Kiikaapoa" or "Kiwikapawa," a North American Indian tribe, who have also been called the "Kickapoo." The Kiikaapoa are an Algonkian-speaking group, who are the remains of a larger Kiikaapoa Indian Nation that once dwelt in the central Great Lakes region. A 1990 census records 3,577 Kiikaapoa within Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas.

Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner had a fictional drink called "Kickapoo Joy Juice" which was a "volatile brew" of such power that the fumes alone were known to melt rivets off battleships. In the comic strip, the ingredients of the brew were mysterious and might include kerosene, horseshoes, grizzly bears, and mountain lions, plus an occasional moose to give it "more body." However prior to Al Capp's comic strip, the "Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company" operated the late 19th century and into the early 20th. The ingredients of these medicines were a carefully guarded secret. This company was headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut, (Clintonville, Connecticut), far from any center of a 19th century Native American Indian population. Thus, it is unlikely that the reciepes had anything to do with geuine Kiikaapoa herbal lore. For example, the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company sold "Kickapoo Indian Sagwa" as a "Blood, Liver, and Stomach Renovator" product which supposedly was based on a Native American recipe. The Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company became one of the largest and most successful medicine show operators. Their shows had a Wild West show theme. The show did employ Native American Indians as actors and spokespeople. I am including this reciepe as a nod back to the the patent medicine and snake oil salesman era. copyright 2013, Myth Woodling

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