The Native Americans viewed dreams as energy that surrounds individuals as they sleep. The energy produces visions in the person and are typically referred to as “good dreams” or “bad dreams”. Should these dreams affect a person, the result can have a positive or negative impact on their life.
Two North American tribes, the Ojibwe (previously known as the Chippewa) and Lakota, constructed dreamcatchers to prevent the bad dreams from affecting the person while capturing the good dreams and channeling that energy into the person’s life. These devices were often made by the women elders in the tribe to control the energy that surrounded the children as they slept.
Dreamcatchers were made of natural materials and were meant to disintegrate back to nature as a young child became an adult. A round or oval hoop was made by bending a stick of willow into the desired shape. Sinew was then tied to seven or eight points on the hoop and stretched across the circle in a pattern that resembled a spider’s web with a hole in the center. Feathers were tied onto the hoop so they hung down below it. Shells and stones would be used to decorate the dreamcatcher.
The Ojibwe and Lakota had different legends regarding the dreamcatcher, but both focused on the channeling of dreams for the benefit of the child.
Dream Catcher- Single Feather
The Ojibwe Legend of Asibikaashi (Spider Woman)
Asibikaashi was responsible for placing the sun into the sky each morning. The sun sent it’s energy to the many people across the land. However, as the tribes grew and spread around the world, it became more difficult for Asibikaashi to get the energy to all of her people. She enlisted the aid of tribal grandmothers, mothers and sisters to weave magical hoops that caught and held onto the energy of dreams. Bad dreams were caught and held by the web of the dreamcatcher while good dreams escaped through the center hole and to the owner.
The Lakota Legend of Iktomi (the Great Teacher)
A tribal leader climbed on top of a mountain where he had a vision from Iktomi, who appeared to him as a spider. Iktomi told the elder about the cycle of human life and how people can make choices that impact their life and the world around them. The spider wove a web around a circle of willow to show the cycles of life that a person goes through from birth to death. At the end of the vision, Iktomi gave the elder the hoop and explained how it can be used to catch and hold bad dreams, preventing them from tormenting the person. It allowed the good dreams to escape through the hole in the center so they could be sent to influence the owner’s life.