History of the Dream Catcher

Dream catchers were first created by the Ojibwe people to teach natural wisdom. It is also said that the dream catcher holds the destiny of the future. They believe that nature is a profound teacher, so they created the dream catchers out of twigs, sinew, and feathers. Dream catchers were originally woven by grandparents to newborn children and hung above their cradle board (or crib) to give the infants peaceful dreams. Nowadays, dream catchers are made for people of all ages.

Good dreams are seen as clear and they know the way to the dreamer, passing easily through the hole centered in the dream catcher. Once the good dreams have passed through the dream catcher they descend through the feathers. Because eagles are seen as being messengers, the Ojibwe people like to use eagle feathers at the bottom of the dream catcher to symbolize that your good dreams are being sent to you. The slightest movement of the feathers indicate the passage of a good dream. Bad dreams are seen as confusing and are easily confused, not knowing a clear path to the dreamer. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there until the sun rises and evaporates them.

The story of the dream catcher is that long ago, an old spiritual leader was on a mountain and had a vision. In this vision, Iktomi, the searcher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to the leader in a sacred language. As he spoke, 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 life as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we become old where we must be taken care of as infants, completeing the cycle.
Iktomi continued to spin his web, speaking about how 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 will steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. These forces can help or interfere with the harmony of nature.
When Iktomi finished speaking he handed the web over to the leader 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 filter your good ideas and the bad ones will be trapped and will not pass through.
The elder passed on his vision onto the people and now many Aborginial people have a dream catcher above their bed, sifting their dreams and visions. The good will pass through the centre hole to the sleeping person while the bad are trapped in the web until the morning light, where they evaporate.