Dreamcatcher (Native American)
|
Dreamcatcher_on_Wall.jpg
In Native American culture, a dreamcatcher is a handmade object based on a hoop (traditionally of willow), incorporating a loose net, and decorated with items unique to the particular dreamcatcher. There is a traditional belief that a dreamcatcher filters a person's dreams, letting through only the good ones. There are related legends.
Dreamcatchers are an authentic American Indian tradition, from the Ojibway (Chippewa) tribe. The people would tie sinew strands in a web around a small round or tear-shaped frame--in a somewhat similar pattern to how they tied webbing for Ojibway snowshoes--and hang this "dream-catcher" as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. The legend is that the bad dreams will get caught in the web.