Kiowa Traditional Beliefs
Kiowa traditional religion is based on the concept of a sacred power called dwdw (pronounced dawdaw). Dwdw can be found in all spirits, places, objects, and in natural phenomena. This power permeates everything in the universe in a hierarchy that gives greater spiritual power to things above such as the sun, moon, and stars over things on earth, and greater spiritual power to predators than to prey. Spiritual power is neither good or bad but can be used to help or to harm. For humans the best way to access power is through vision quests where the seeker obtains guidance from a guardian spirit. This spirit guide will instruct the human in spiritual songs, dances, and in the making of amulets that imparts power to the wearer. Men who had visions and were known to possess dwdw held the highest status in the tribe and were warriors or healers, though they were not usually both. These men could transfer their dwdw onto whoever they wanted and their children could inherit the power. Men with the highest dwdw would become chiefs within the tribe and their families would be among the most prestigious. The families of the greatest healers would be the ones entrusted with the most sacred objects of the Kiowa, the ten tribal medicine bundles called Tah-lee or Boy Medicine. These bundles contained the physical embodiment of the tribe’s most sacred medicines and would be used in ceremonial healing. The Boy Medicine bundles were part of the Split Boy story in which the son of a human woman and the sun turns himself into medicine bundles to help protect the Kiowa people.
These ten bundles were extremely important, but the most sacred of all medicines was the Taime, the Sun Dance Medicine. Though the Kiowa have memories before the Taime, the Tai-me was central to the Sun Dance ceremony and the centerpiece of Kiowa spiritual life. It was a small stone human-like figure with feet of a deer and covered in feathers. It was given to the Kiowa in a vision when a man searching for food for four days because the tribe had none fell into a vision during a thunderstorm and the Taime appeared and asked the man what he wanted. He replied that he needed food for his people, and the Taime instructed the man to take it with him and the Taime would give the Kiowa whatever they wanted as long as the Taime remained with them.