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Legend of the Dream CatcherYou can find many stories of the legend of the dream catcher. The story changes among the many nations that use dream catchers. The following story is an excerpt from the book Dream Catchers: Legend, Lore, and Artifacts by Cath Olberholtzer (available in the Mount Royal University Library and Calgary Public Library).
“The legend of the dream catcher began long ago, when the child of a Woodland chief fell ill. Unsettled by fever, the child was plagued with bad dreams and unable to sleep. In an attempt to heal him, the tribe’s Medicine Woman created a device that would “catch” these bad dreams. Forming a circle with a slender willow branch, she filled the center with sinew, using a pattern borrowed from our brother the Spider, who weaves a web. This dream catcher was then hung over the bed of the child. Soon the fever broke, and the child slept peacefully. It is said that at night, when dreams visit, they are caught in the dream catcher’s web, and only the good dreams are able to find their way to the dreamer, filtering down through the feather. When the warmth of the morning sun arrives, it burns away the bad dreams that have been caught. The good dreams, now knowing the path, visit again on other nights.” (Oberholtzer, 2012, p. 9). OriginsThroughout history, many nations have claimed to be the original creators of the dream catcher. But, a consensus was eventually made, naming the Ojibwa as the originators (Oberholtzer, 2012). The Ojibwa are part of the Algonquin language family, which has many language divisions and a widespread geographic region. In the mid-1800's, explorers began documenting their observation of small, netted charms used by the Ojibwa to protect infants from evil spirits and illness. There is also evidence that the Cree and Naskapi also used netted charms for protection (Oberholtzer, 2012).
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