Everything about Dream Catcher totally explained
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This is about the traditional Native American object. For other uses, see Dreamcatcher (disambiguation).
In
Ojibwa (Chippewa) culture, a
dreamcatcher (or
dream catcher;
Ojibwe asabikeshiinh, the
inanimate form of the word for "spider" or
bawaajige nagwaagan meaning "dream snare"
Traditionally, the Ojibwa construct dreamcatchers by tying sinew strands in a web around a small round or tear-shaped frame of willow (in a way roughly similar to their method for making
snowshoe webbing). The resulting "dream-catcher", hung above the bed, is then used as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. Dreamcatchers made of
willow and
sinew are not meant to last forever but instead are intended to dry out and collapse over time as the child enters the age of adulthood.
The Ojibwa believe that a dreamcatcher filters a person's dreams. According to Terri J. Andrews in the article "Legend of the Dream Catcher," about the Ojibwa nation in the magazine
World & I, Nov. 1998 page 204, "Only good dreams would be allowed to filter through . . . Bad dreams would stay in the net, disappearing with the light of day."
It's recommended to hang the dream catcher above someone sleeping to guard against bad dreams. Good dreams pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.
Another legend (
Lakota), according to
St. Joseph's Indian School in
Chamberlain, South Dakota, "Good dreams pass through the center hole to the sleeping person. The bad dreams are trapped in the web, where they perish in the light of dawn."
Popularization
In the course of becoming popular outside of the Ojibwa Nation, and then outside of the pan-Indian communities, "dreamcatchers" are now made, exhibited and sold by some
New age groups and individuals. According to
Philip Jenkins, this is considered by most traditional Native peoples and their supporters to be an undesirable form of
cultural appropriation.
The official portrait of
Ralph Klein, former Premier of the
Canadian province of
Alberta and whose wife Colleen Klein is Metis, incorporates a dreamcatcher.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dream Catcher'.
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