DREAM CATCHERS
Long ago there was an old Indian chief and his daughter. The chief guided his tribe with the help of kind spirits who visited him in his dreams. His people prospered and lived in harmony with their world.
As time passed, the chief was visited more often by evil spirits. His people became confused and grew careless. The chief's daughter, searching for a way to help him, remembered something she had learned from an old wise woman. Taking a stick she bent it into a circle to represent the endless cycle of life. She then wove a many pointed star so that each point represented one of the gifts of the universe. All that is green and growing, all that moves and breaths, the different elements, Mother Earth herself, the clouds and stars, and all things we cannot touch. Every point was necessary to support the web. The feather and beads; representing the sky, water, animals, soil and plants, were added at the end.

The daughter explained that the web should be hung above the chief’s bed to catch the evil spirits, while the good spirits would travel through the hole in the middle. Thus the chief grew in strength and wisdom, and his people regained their balance and prosperity. And from that day forth, they have kept dream catchers above their beds.