In his vision, Iktomi – the great trickster and teacher of wisdom – appeared in the form of a spider.Īs Iktomi was speaking to the spiritual leader, he took the elder’s willow hoop – which had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it – and began to spin a web. Long ago, when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain. It was thought that these charms would catch any evil or bad dreams that might be in the air, similar to how a spider web catches whatever flies into it. This led to the tribal women spinning web shaped ornaments out of willow, sinew or cord to give to children and infants as protective charms. The story goes on to say that as the Ojibwe tribe began to occupy more territory it became more taxing for the Asibikaashi to tend to all the land. The Asibikaashi were believed to be a type of human and spider hybrid, who along with Wanabozhoo, brought the sun to the people of the land.Īfter this, they became caretakers of the children, tribe, and land.

According to American ethnographer ‘ Frances Densmore‘, the origin of the dream catcher lies in a folktale involving the Asibikaashi. This term is the inanimate word for ‘spider’. The Ojibwe word for a dream catcher is ‘ asabikeshiinh’. Nowadays often seen in souvenir and gift shops or hanging off a bedroom wall, these handcrafted trinkets typically consist of a round, woven net of various fiber or red willow, and adorned with feathers, leather, beads, or various other materials differentiating from tribe to tribe.

Originating from the Ojibwe people, who lived primarily in the northern USA and Canada, the dream catcher has a story that bends the the seams between dreams and reality.

The dream catcher is most commonly associated with Native American culture.

Where do dream catchers originate from