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.