DreamCatchers
Dreamcatchers are arts and crafts of the Native American people. The original web dream catcher of the Ojibwa was intended to teach natural wisdom. Nature is a profound teacher. Dreamcatchers of twigs, sinew, and feathers have been woven since ancient times by Ojibwa people. They were woven by the grandfathers and grandmothers for newborn children and hung above the cradleboard to give the infants peaceful, beautiful dreams. The night air is filled with dreams. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicated the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there until the sun rises and evaporates them like the morning dew.
Originally the Native American dream catcher was woven on twigs of the red willow using thread from the stalk of the stinging nettle. The red willow and twigs from other trees of the willow family, as well as red twig dogwood can be found in many parts of the United States. These twigs are gathered fresh and dried in a circle or pulled into a spiral shape depending upon their intended use. They used natural feathers and semi-precious gemstone, one gemstone to each web because there is only one creator in the web of life.
One of the many various dream catcher legends is told very simply:
Long ago when the word was sound, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and searcher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web. He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life, how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle.
But, Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, in each time of life there are many forces, some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can interfere with the harmony of Nature. While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web.
When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole.
The elder passed on his vision onto the people and now many Indian people have a dreamcatcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their dreams drops through the hole in the web and are no longer a part of their lives. It is said the dreamcatcher holds the destiny of the future.
The history of dreamcatchers has nearly been lost in the turmoil of cultural mixing and destruction that followed on the heels of the European invasion. Dream catcher history is known with some credibility due to the dedicated field work of Frances Densmore at the beginning of the last century. She traveled from her home in Red Wing, Minnesota to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota just south of the White Earth Indian Reservation where she set up a recording studio in the back of a music shop. For five years she recorded the music of the Ojibwe for the Smithsonian Institute Bureau of American Ethnology. Her careful and extensive study of many Native American cultures including that of the Ojibwe (also known as Chippewa) living in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.
In one of her many reports, she described articles looking like spider webs that were usually hung from the hoop of a child's cradle board. She said that 'they catch and hold everything evil as a spider's web catches and holds everything that comes into contact with it'.
Ojibwe infant in cradle board. From White Earth Indian ReservationThese 'dreamcatchers' were wooden hoops with a 3 1/2 in. diameter, woven with a web made of nettle-stalk fiber that was dyed red with the red sap of the root of bloodroot or the inner bark of the wild plum tree. A facsimile of this traditional dream catcher can be seen at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation in central Minnesota.
The spider web dreamcatcher shown below right is very similar to the original dream catcher that has been a tradition for a very long time. It is about 3 ½ inches across, made of red willow gathered in early spring when it is the brightest color. Feathers were often added so that the parents could see the good dreams slipping down the softness of the feathers. The use of 8 turns around the spiral represents the number of legs of the spider, and a single stone in the center represents Asibikaashi, the spider. The seven points or rays represent the Seven Fires, the seven prophecies brought to the Anishinabeg by the Seven Prophets.
For many years, only Ojibwe people made dream catchers as each tribe made only its original crafts. In the mid 70's, dream catcher earrings became popular and many people of other tribes began to make dream catchers. Not knowing how to weave the spider web or not wanting to take the extra time needed they chose the mid-point weaving style of the hoop and stick instead of the end-point weave of the ancient spider web. Many people, not knowing the significance of the twig or not being able to find the beautiful red willow of the northern woodlands, began to use metal rings wound with leather or string. The thread of tradition was lost. Now in the time of the Seventh Fire, and the traditions are being returned to the people.
The common dream catcher weave seen today is the traditional weave used for other articles, most commonly the hoop for the hoop and stick game of many tribes. Woven with strong rawhide with a hole in the center, a child would roll the hoop along the ground and another would try to throw a wooden spear through the hole in the center. Stories of the dream catcher legend that describe the dreams going through a center hole are of recent origin. The original dream catcher had a very tiny hole in the center and the legend describes ALL dreams being caught in the weaving. Each tribe and clan, however, has its own oral tradition and memory. Passing along that memory by storytelling has not been easy with the traditional culture challenged, since some of the tribal languages fallen into disuse. Now there are many legends of the dream catcher from many different Native American cultures. Sometimes Anishinabeg tell the story of the Lakota dreamcatcher with the "Shinob" traditional spider web, and Lakota tell the "Shinob" story with their "Lakota" dream catcher.
Authenticity is difficult, if not impossible, given the intermarriage among many tribes, with non-Indians, and the loss of the continuity historically provided by traditional elders.
For thousands of years Native Americans have woven dream catchers to provide dreams of goodness and beauty for their children. Yet the dream catcher is not for children alone.
Before use, the dream catcher is often cleansed in a ceremony of purification by passing them through the smoke of smoldering sage--the sage ceremony. Sometimes, if the dreamcatcher is not in a well-lit room, it becomes overloaded with energies that need to be cleared. For us, each breath is a prayer and so each dreamcatcher is woven with the energies of love and blessing.
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