We gladly advertise any individual native artist or native-owned art store here free of charge, provided that all dreamcatchers are made by tribally recognized American Indian, Inuit, or First Nations artists. Thank you for your interest in Native American dream catchers! Native American Dream Catcher Stores. LEGEND OF THE DREAMCATCHER. It is believed in the Native American Indian culture, at night dreams (good and bad) begin to float through the night air searching for a dreamer. It is ancient legend that the bad dreams are caught in the web, and are melted away by the first morning sunlight, never to be dreamt. Get authentic Native American dream catchers from Made in New Mexico! With each purchase, you will learn about the person who crafted your dream catcher. In many Native American tribes, a dream catcher is a handmade willow hoop woven to a web or literally, a net. They can include feathers and beads, and they're traditionally suspended on cradles as a form of armor and protection. Dream catchers can be traced back to the Ojibwes.
If you don't see something you like at this time check back from time to time because we will be putting other dream catchers in our store.
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Dream Catcher Info Your Price: $8.95 to $79.95 Depending on size |
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Four Corners Dreamcatcher Medicine Wheel This Native American Indian Dreamcatcher is of a very high quality. It was skillfully hand made by a Navajo Indian artisan. The wheel was entirely wrapped in soft genuine buckskin leather. The web has been created with a traditional design in the center to symbolize the four corners of the earth, created with wooden pipe beads and a genuine abalone shell button. This dreamcatcher has a diameter of 6'. Genuine feathers have been known to act as symbols of prayer. Attached to the bottom is a hand made medicine bag. Four Corners Dreamcatcher Medicine Wheel (Native American Made) Suggested Retail $99.99 / Your Price: $72.50 |
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Painted End Of Trail Mandella Made By Experience the cultural beauaty of Native American Mandellas.The mandella is one of the most powerful American Indian items, being a descendant of the plains Indian dance shield. Prayers for survival, spiritual blessings, powerful visions, physical protection, and long life go into the making of the traditional mandella as it represents the interwoven threads of creation, and the wonder of diversity in Mother Earth. This hand-painted leather star shields measure 14' in diameter and is adorned with Crow beads and tip plumes. A perfect addition to any Southwest-themed decor all at a fair price! Size: 14' Your Price: $75.00 |
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Painted Eagle Mandella Made By Experience the cultural beauaty of Native American Mandellas.The mandella is one of the most powerful American Indian items, being a descendant of the plains Indian dance shield. Prayers for survival, spiritual blessings, powerful visions, physical protection, and long life go into the making of the traditional mandella as it represents the interwoven threads of creation, and the wonder of diversity in Mother Earth. This hand-painted leather star shields measure 14' in diameter and is adorned with Crow beads and tip plumes. A perfect addition to any Southwest-themed decor all at a fair price! Size: 14' Your Price: $75.00 |
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Medicine Wheel Wall Hanging Made By Originating with the Plains Indians, the Medicine Wheel has always been a symbol of peace and tranquility, a device to ward off evil spirits. Incorporating a peace pipe, a dream catcher, and the symbol for the four sacred directions, the Medicine Wheel is good medicine. A perfect addition to any Southwest-themed decor all at a fair price! Size: 20' Your Price: $225.00 |
Click Pictures To Enlarge | Ceremonial Shield with Full Pheasant Made By This solid buckskin shield has a full pheasant pelt and and conchos. The pheasant shield when used by a warrior would aid in his concealment from the enemy. This item is handcrafted and therefore the feathers will vary. Certificate of Authenticity included. A perfect addition to any Southwest-themed decor all at a fair price! Size: 14 in. dia. + 14 in. of fringe Your Price: $300.00 |
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Today dream catchers are made by Native American artists from many Nations; a great deal of people are under the impression that the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota (called Sioux by others) originated the dreamcatcher... There are many Native American stories and legends about spiders and webs, but the Ojibwe (called Chippewa by others) originated the dream catcher. A look at the long tradition of storytelling, oral histories, passed down parent to child, generation after generation, clears up any confusion about the origin of dream catchers.
Frances Densmore conducted an extensive study of material culture of the Ojibwe/Chippewa living in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada in the early 1900's and the information is presented in the book, Chippewa Customs, published by Minnesota Historical Society Press (St. Paul) in 1979. Densmore describes that articles representing spider webs were usually hung from the hoop of a child's cradle board, and it was said that 'they catch and hold everything evil as a spider's web catches and holds everything that comes into contact with it'. These 'dream catchers' were wooden hoops with a 3 1/2 in. diameter, filled with a web made of nettle-stalk cord that was dyed red with bloodroot and wild plum inner bark. It is interesting to note that the 'weave' of the dream catcher photographed in Densmore's work is different from that usually done today. By the early 1900's, dark red yarn had been substituted for plant fiber in constructing the web by the Ojibwe. Densmore also mentions a similar netted-hoop made by the Pawnee to represent the Spider-Woman, a spirit who controlled the buffalo.
The Ojibwe, whose traditional homeland is around the Great Lakes region, have ancient stories about the dreamcatcher, how it 'came to be', why it is used, and how it should be made. A while back there was quite a discussion about the origin of the dream catcher on the soc.culture.native Newsgroups and on the Native-L Listserver.
| Contemporary dreamcatcher with traditional Chippewa weave, made by my friend Michael O'Neill (Red Lake Band of Chippewa) and his wife (Fond-du-lac band of Chippewa). 'My wife and I had went out one evening and gathered up some red willow... the willow is wrapped with one continuous piece of yarn including the web... it takes about an hour to make....I use a deep red yarn... like bloodroot'. |
from Lyn Dearborn
In response to a question about the FIRST origin of Dream Catchers,
Nov. 1, 1995 to the Native-l Listserver.
Long ago in the ancient world of the Ojibwe Nation, the Clans were all located in one general area of that place known as Turtle Island. This is the way that the old Ojibwe storytellers say how Asibikaashi (Spider Woman) helped Wanabozhoo bring giizis (sun) back to the people. To this day, Asibikaashi will build her special lodge before dawn. If you are awake at dawn, as you should be, look for her lodge and you will see this miracle of how she captured the sunrise as the light sparkles on the dew which is gathered there.
Asibikaasi took care of her children, the people of the land, and she continues to do so to this day. When the Ojibwe Nation dispersed to the four corners of North America, to fill a prophecy, Asibikaashi had a difficult time making her journey to all those cradle boards, so the mothers, sisters, & Nokomis (grandmothers) took up the practice of weaving the magical webs for the new babies using willow hoops and sinew or cordage made from plants. It is in the shape of a circle to represent how giizis travels each day across the sky. The dream catcher will filter out all the bad bawedjigewin (dreams) & allow only good thoughts to enter into our minds when we are just abinooji. You will see a small hole in the center of each dream catcher where those good bawadjige may come through. With the first rays of sunlight, the bad dreams would perish.
When we see little asibikaashi, we should not fear her, but instead respect and protect her. In honor of their origin, the number of points where the web connected to the hoop numbered 8 for Spider Woman's eight legs or 7 for the Seven Prophecies.
in a cradle board [Densmore 1979]. |
It was traditional to put a feather in the center of the dream catcher; it means breath, or air. It is essential for life. A baby watching the air playing with the feather on her cradleboard was entertained while also being given a lesson on the importance of good air. This lesson comes forward in the way that the feather of the owl is kept for wisdom (a woman's feather) & the eagle feather is kept for courage (a man's feather). This is not to say that the use of each is restricted by gender, but that to use the feather each is aware of the gender properties she/he is invoking. (Indian people, in general, are very specific about gender roles and identity.) The use of gem stones, as we do in the ones we make for sale, is not something that was done by the old ones. Government laws have forbidden the sale of feathers from our sacred birds, so using four gem stones, to represent the four directions, and the stones used by western nations were substituted by us. The woven dream catchers of adults do not use feathers.
Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are for children, and they are not meant to last. Eventually the willow dries out and the tension of the sinew collapses the dream catcher. That's supposed to happen. It belies the temporary-ness of youth. Adults should use dream catchers of woven fiber which is made up to reflect their adult 'dreams.' It is also customary in many parts of Canada and the Northeastern U.S. to have the dream catchers be a tear-drop/snow shoe shape.
The above story is a combination of information gathered by Lyn Dearborn, from California, and Mary Ritchie, of the Northern Woodlands, with assistance from Canadian elders. Miigwetch!
Thanks also to Theresa and Aandek for the Ojibwe terms & translations for dream catchers on Rob's Ojibwe Bulletin Board!
from a July 26, 1995 submission to the soc.culture.native Newsgroup
Branches, Twigs & Roots Bibliography and Books to Buy On-Line
Native American Indian Dream Catchers
| Text and Graphics © 1994 - Tara Prindle unless otherwise cited. |
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