Difference between revisions of "Dreamcatcher" - New World Encyclopedia

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In [[Ojibwa]] (Chippewa)  culture, a '''dreamcatcher''' (or '''dream catcher'''; [[Anishinaabe language|Ojibwe]] '''''asabikeshiinh''''', the [[Ojibwe grammar#Gender|inanimate]] form of the word for "spider"<ref name="freelang">[http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/ojibwe.html Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary]</ref><ref name="NT">{{cite web|url = http://www.nativetech.org/dreamcat/dreamcat.html|title = NativeTech: Dream Catchers|accessmonthday = September 23|accessyear = 2007|last = Prindle|first =  Tara}}</ref> or '''''bawaajige nagwaagan''''' meaning "dream snare"<ref name="NT"/>) is a handmade object based on a [[willow]] hoop, on which is woven a loose [[net (device)|net]] or [[spider web|web]]. The dreamcatcher is then decorated with personal and sacred items such as feathers and beads.
 
In [[Ojibwa]] (Chippewa)  culture, a '''dreamcatcher''' (or '''dream catcher'''; [[Anishinaabe language|Ojibwe]] '''''asabikeshiinh''''', the [[Ojibwe grammar#Gender|inanimate]] form of the word for "spider"<ref name="freelang">[http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/ojibwe.html Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary]</ref><ref name="NT">{{cite web|url = http://www.nativetech.org/dreamcat/dreamcat.html|title = NativeTech: Dream Catchers|accessmonthday = September 23|accessyear = 2007|last = Prindle|first =  Tara}}</ref> or '''''bawaajige nagwaagan''''' meaning "dream snare"<ref name="NT"/>) is a handmade object based on a [[willow]] hoop, on which is woven a loose [[net (device)|net]] or [[spider web|web]]. The dreamcatcher is then decorated with personal and sacred items such as feathers and beads.
  
==Origin and legends==
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==History==
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The origins of the dreamcatcher are quite unclear, mostly due to the loss of much Native American history during European contact, colonization, and forced relocations. It should come as no surprise that the persecution of the Native Americans had such a detrimental impact on their history. Yet, legends surrounding the dreamcatcher exist in nearly all tribes across North America, and most of those legends revolve around similar themes: Spirits, spiders, and most prominently, dreams.<ref name=art>Diana Blake, [http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37506.asp Legends of the Native American Dreamcatcher,] Art History. Retrieved July 2, 2008.</ref>
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The first documented observation of the dreamcatcher was in 1929, among the Chippewa, by [[ethnography|ethnographer]] [[Frances Densmore]].
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==Legends==
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===Ojibwa===
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The Ojibwe people tell of how, many moons ago, Spider Woman brought the sun back to the sky each day. But when the Ojibwe nation spread to the ends of the world, she began to find it difficult to make the journey for all of her people. Instead, she directed the mothers, sisters and grandmothers to weave a magical web for new babies using willow hoops. These dreamcatchers would allow only good dreams to enter the babies’ minds when they were asleep. The circle of the hoop was a symbol of the sun. The web was to connect to the hoop in eight places to represent Spider Woman’s eight legs or in seven places to represent The Seven Prophecies. A feather in the center of a baby’s dreamcatcher represented breath and life. Adults did not have a feather in the center of their dreamcatchers but instead kept a feather in their possession.
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===Chippewa===
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The Chippewa believed that the dreamcatcher was first made when the wise medicine woman of the tribe told the tribe mothers to weave a spider’s web with love from a willow hoop to chase away the evil spirits that came to terrify their children in the night. She told them to leave an opening in the center like an open heart so that good things could pass through onto those that sleep and bad things could get caught in the web and vanish with the morning light.
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===Lakota===
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The Lakota tell of the tribe elder who long, long ago had a vision on a mountaintop. Iktomi, the great teacher, appeared to him in the form of a spider and spoke to him. As he spoke, he spun a web on a hoop of feathers, horse hairs and beads. Iktomi spoke of the cycles of life and how human choices could affect the harmony of nature. He gave the elder the hoop and pointed out how the web was a perfect circle with a hole in its center. He explained how belief in the Great Spirit would allow the hoop to catch good dreams, letting the bad dreams go through the hole in the center of the hoop. Iktomi told how the web would help his people make good use of their ideas and visions.
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[[Image:dreamcatcher.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Dreamcatchers.]]
 
[[Image:dreamcatcher.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Dreamcatchers.]]
 
While dreamcatchers originated in the [[Ojibwa]] Nation, during the [[pan-Indian movement]] of the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]] they were adopted by [[Native Americans of the United States|Native American]]s of a number of different Nations.  They came to be seen by some as a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations, and as a general symbol of identification with Native American or [[First Nations]] cultures.  However, some Native Americans have come to see them as "tacky" and over-commercialized due to their acceptance in popular culture.<ref>[http://www.native-languages.org/dreamcatchers.htm Native American Dreamcatchers<!-- Bot generated title —>]</ref>
 
While dreamcatchers originated in the [[Ojibwa]] Nation, during the [[pan-Indian movement]] of the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]] they were adopted by [[Native Americans of the United States|Native American]]s of a number of different Nations.  They came to be seen by some as a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations, and as a general symbol of identification with Native American or [[First Nations]] cultures.  However, some Native Americans have come to see them as "tacky" and over-commercialized due to their acceptance in popular culture.<ref>[http://www.native-languages.org/dreamcatchers.htm Native American Dreamcatchers<!-- Bot generated title —>]</ref>
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   | date = [[2007-08-31]]
 
   | date = [[2007-08-31]]
 
   | url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/08/30/klein-portrait.html?ref=rss}}</ref>
 
   | url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/08/30/klein-portrait.html?ref=rss}}</ref>
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During the pan-Indian movement in the 60's and 70's, Ojibway dreamcatchers started to get popular in other Native American tribes, even those in disparate places like the Cherokee, Lakota, and Navajo. So dreamcatchers aren't traditional in most Indian cultures, per se, but they're sort of neo-traditional, like frybread. Today you see them hanging in lots of places other than a child's cradleboard or nursery, like the living room or your rearview mirror. Some Indians think dream-catchers are a sweet and loving little tradition, others consider them a symbol of native unity, and still others think of them as sort of the Indian equivalent of a tacky plastic Jesus hanging in your truck.<ref name=languages>Native Languages, [http://www.native-languages.org/dreamcatchers.htm Dream Catchers.] Retrieved July 2, 2008.</ref>
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==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Revision as of 14:59, 2 July 2008

A dreamcatcher.

In Ojibwa (Chippewa) culture, a dreamcatcher (or dream catcher; Ojibwe asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for "spider"[1][2] or bawaajige nagwaagan meaning "dream snare"[2]) is a handmade object based on a willow hoop, on which is woven a loose net or web. The dreamcatcher is then decorated with personal and sacred items such as feathers and beads.

History

The origins of the dreamcatcher are quite unclear, mostly due to the loss of much Native American history during European contact, colonization, and forced relocations. It should come as no surprise that the persecution of the Native Americans had such a detrimental impact on their history. Yet, legends surrounding the dreamcatcher exist in nearly all tribes across North America, and most of those legends revolve around similar themes: Spirits, spiders, and most prominently, dreams.[3]

The first documented observation of the dreamcatcher was in 1929, among the Chippewa, by ethnographer Frances Densmore.

Legends

Ojibwa

The Ojibwe people tell of how, many moons ago, Spider Woman brought the sun back to the sky each day. But when the Ojibwe nation spread to the ends of the world, she began to find it difficult to make the journey for all of her people. Instead, she directed the mothers, sisters and grandmothers to weave a magical web for new babies using willow hoops. These dreamcatchers would allow only good dreams to enter the babies’ minds when they were asleep. The circle of the hoop was a symbol of the sun. The web was to connect to the hoop in eight places to represent Spider Woman’s eight legs or in seven places to represent The Seven Prophecies. A feather in the center of a baby’s dreamcatcher represented breath and life. Adults did not have a feather in the center of their dreamcatchers but instead kept a feather in their possession.

Chippewa

The Chippewa believed that the dreamcatcher was first made when the wise medicine woman of the tribe told the tribe mothers to weave a spider’s web with love from a willow hoop to chase away the evil spirits that came to terrify their children in the night. She told them to leave an opening in the center like an open heart so that good things could pass through onto those that sleep and bad things could get caught in the web and vanish with the morning light.

Lakota

The Lakota tell of the tribe elder who long, long ago had a vision on a mountaintop. Iktomi, the great teacher, appeared to him in the form of a spider and spoke to him. As he spoke, he spun a web on a hoop of feathers, horse hairs and beads. Iktomi spoke of the cycles of life and how human choices could affect the harmony of nature. He gave the elder the hoop and pointed out how the web was a perfect circle with a hole in its center. He explained how belief in the Great Spirit would allow the hoop to catch good dreams, letting the bad dreams go through the hole in the center of the hoop. Iktomi told how the web would help his people make good use of their ideas and visions.


File:Dreamcatcher.jpg
Dreamcatchers.

While dreamcatchers originated in the Ojibwa Nation, during the pan-Indian movement of the 1960s and 1970s they were adopted by Native Americans of a number of different Nations. They came to be seen by some as a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations, and as a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures. However, some Native Americans have come to see them as "tacky" and over-commercialized due to their acceptance in popular culture.[4]

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."

File:Dreamcatcher grape vine.jpg
Close up of modern, non-traditional dreamcatcher made of grape vine and sinew with turquoise stones surrounding a large quartz crystal. Made by Dreamcatcher.com

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.[5]

The official portrait of Ralph Klein, former Premier of the Canadian province of Alberta and whose wife Colleen Klein is Metis, incorporates a dreamcatcher.[6]

During the pan-Indian movement in the 60's and 70's, Ojibway dreamcatchers started to get popular in other Native American tribes, even those in disparate places like the Cherokee, Lakota, and Navajo. So dreamcatchers aren't traditional in most Indian cultures, per se, but they're sort of neo-traditional, like frybread. Today you see them hanging in lots of places other than a child's cradleboard or nursery, like the living room or your rearview mirror. Some Indians think dream-catchers are a sweet and loving little tradition, others consider them a symbol of native unity, and still others think of them as sort of the Indian equivalent of a tacky plastic Jesus hanging in your truck.[7]


Notes

  1. Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
  2. 2.0 2.1 Prindle, Tara. NativeTech: Dream Catchers. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  3. Diana Blake, Legends of the Native American Dreamcatcher, Art History. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  4. Native American Dreamcatchers
  5. Jenkins, Philip (September 2004). Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America Discovered Native Spirituality. New York: Oxford University Press. 
  6. Ralph Klein breaks tradition in legislature portrait. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2007-08-31).
  7. Native Languages, Dream Catchers. Retrieved July 2, 2008.

See also

External links

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