ĭream catchers were adopted in the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and gained popularity as widely marketed 'Native crafts items' in the 1980s. It originates in Anishinaabe culture as 'the spider web charm' – asubakacin 'net-like' ( White Earth Nation) bwaajige ngwaagan 'dream snare' ( Curve Lake First Nation) – a hoop with woven string or sinew meant to replicate a spider's web, used as a protective charm for infants. Traditionally, dreamcatchers are hung over a cradle or bed as protection.
It may also be decorated with sacred items such as certain feathers or beads. In some Native American and First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher ( Ojibwe: asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web. For other uses, see Dreamcatcher (disambiguation).Īn ornate, contemporary, nontraditional dreamcatcher
This article is about the Native American object.
