240 CALENDAK HISTORY OF THE KIOWA [eth.anx.i? 



The great central figure of tlie h'ado, or sun dance, ceremony is the 

 taime. This is a small image, less than '2 feet in length, representing 

 a human figure dressed in a robe of white feathers, with a headdress 

 consisting of a single upright feather and pendants of ermine skin, 

 with numerous strands of blue beads around its neck, and painted 

 upon the face, breast, and back with designs symbolic of the sun and 

 moon. The image itself is of dark-green stone, in form I'udely resem- 

 bling a human bead and bust, probably shaped by art like the 

 stone fetishes of the Pueblo tribes. It is preserved in a rawhide box 

 in charge of the hereditary keeper, and is never under any circum- 

 stances exposed to view except at the annual sun dance, when it is 

 fastened to a short upright stick planted withiu the medicine lodge, 

 near the western side. It was last exposed in ISSS (see the calendar). 

 The ancient taime image was of buckskin, with a stalk of Indian 

 tobacco for a headdress. This buckskin image was left in the medi- 

 cine lodge, with all the other adornments and sacrificial ofierings, at 

 the close of each ceremony. The present taime is one of three, two of 

 which came originally from the Crows, through an Arapaho who mar- 

 ried into the Kiowa tribe, while the third came by capture from the 

 Blackfeet. 



The tobacco upmi the head of the ancient taime is another evidence 

 of the northern origin of the Kiowa, as the Kutenai, Blackfoot, and 

 other tribes living near and across the Canadian border are noted for 

 their cultivation of tobacco, and have a special tobacco dance and 

 ceremonies. The more remote tribes along the northwest coast are 

 equally celebrated for their carving in stone, the material used being 

 commonly a black slate, and the original stone taimes may have come 

 from that region. 



According to the legend, which is told with the exactness of an his- 

 torical tradition, an Arapaho, who was without horses or other wealth, 

 attended with his tribe the suu dance of the Crows and danced long 

 and earnestly before the " medicine,'" in hope that it would pity him and 

 make him prosi)erous. The chief priest of the Crows rewarded hini 

 by giving him the taime image, notwithstanding the protests of the 

 Crows, who were angry at seeing such favor shown to a stranger. 

 Fortune now smiled upon the Arai)aho; he stole many horses and won 

 new blessings for himself by tying numerous ponies to the medicine 

 lodge as a sacrifice to the taime, until at last his herd was of the lar- 

 gest. Being now grown wealthy, when next his own people visited the 

 Crows he collected his horses and started back with them, but the jeal- 

 ous Crows followed secretly, untied the taime bag from the pole in 

 front of his tipi and stole it, as Rachel stole her father's gods. On dis- 

 covering his loss the Arapaho made duplicates, which he took back 

 with him to his own people. He afterward married a Kiowa woman 

 and went to live with her tribe, bringing with him the taime, which 

 thus became the medicine of the Kiowa. Since that time the taime has 



