Kennekuk, the prophet of the Kickapoo Indians about the time that tribe came to Kansas, has been described as "a tall, bony Indian, with a keen black eye, and a face beaming with intelligence." He was a hereditary chief, as well as a professed preacher or prophet of a sect he originated. He claimed to receive his knowledge, and the direction for his teachings, from the Great Spirit. The teaching of the white missionaries he regarded as an innovation upon the original belief of the Indians, and consequently he opposed their work. Among the precepts he set forth for his followers was total abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors. He died about 1856 or 1857 from small-pox. After his death some 30 or 40 of his faithful followers remained with his body, hoping to see the fulfillment of his prophecy that "in three days he would rise again," and all contracted the disease and died.