thumb|Dreamcatcher, [[Royal Ontario Museum]]

thumb|An ornate, contemporary, nontraditional dreamcatcher

In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher (, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. It may also be decorated with sacred items such as certain feathers or beads. Traditionally, dreamcatchers are hung over a cradle or bed as protection. – a hoop with woven string or sinew meant to replicate a spider's web, used as a protective charm for infants. So the mothers and grandmothers weave webs for the children, using willow hoops and sinew, or cordage made from plants. The purpose of these charms is apotropaic and not explicitly connected with dreams:

<blockquote>Even infants were provided with protective charms. Examples of these are the "spiderwebs" hung on the hoop of a cradle board. In old times this netting was made of nettle fiber. Two spider webs were usually hung on the hoop, and it was said that they "caught any harm that might be in the air as a spider's web catches and holds whatever comes in contact with it."<!--probably belongs on "spider as trickster", as no connection to the charm is given-->

Modern uses

thumb|left|upright|Contemporary derivation sold at a craft fair in [[El Quisco, Chile, in 2006]]

While dreamcatchers continue to be used in a traditional manner in their communities and cultures of origin, derivative forms of dreamcatchers were adopted into the Pan-Indian movement of the 1960s and 1970s as a symbol of unity among the various Native American cultures, or as a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures.

The name "dream catcher" was published in mainstream, non-Native media in the 1970s and became widely known as a Native crafts item by the 1980s. By the early 1990s, it was "one of the most popular and marketable" ones.

In the course of becoming popular outside the Ojibwe Nation, and then outside the pan-Indian communities, various types of "dreamcatchers", many of which bear little resemblance to traditional styles, and that incorporate materials that would not be traditionally used, are now made, exhibited, and sold by New Age groups and individuals.

See also

  • God's eye
  • Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990
  • Namkha
  • Witch ball
  • Witch bottle

References

  • The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990