All over the world little children usually share some of the same fears, monsters under the bed, boogie man in the closet, getting sucked down the drain, one of the most if not the most common fear amongst little children is the fear of nightmares. To prevent native or scary dreams from reaching their young ones, native Americans used things called dream catchers. After being placed above the sleeper the dream catcher caught the bad dreams and let the peaceful dreams through. The dream catcher comes from a legend containing a wise child loving spider woman. Spiders make webs and catch things similar to how a dream catcher Is used. Dream catchers gave the native Americans a sense of protection from evil spirits and valued the dream catchers to help guide them.
             One native American Legend states Asibikaashi, spider woman looked after all the children of her village. According to her prophecies, she had to leave the village and the children that loved her dearly. Mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, scared for their children took up making magical webs. These webs were shaped as a circle to represent the sun. In the middle of the webs there was a large hole to allow pleasant dreams that were flowing through the air, to come through and educate the young sleepers. The rest of the web purposely interlocked in 8 places to represent the spider lady's eight legs. The web caught the bad thoughts and dreams and when the sun rose these thoughts perished from the rays of sunlight, of as the native Americans thought of it them, happiness.
             Dreams catchers were not only used to stop harmful dreams. They were also used to help knowledge and wisdom get carried to the sleeper. Many Native Americans believed if they had a problem the dream catcher would help feed the answer or alternative of the problem to them. Dream catchers were made by decorating a hoop of willow. The decorations were usually pieces and findings of everyday life, including...