Dream Catcher made by local artist Jodon Gobert. Diameter is 4 inches. The Blackfeet Trading Post $ 15.00 SWEETGRASS The Blackfeet Trading Post $ 5.00 Latest News.
- An ancient Chippewa tradition The dream net has been made For many generations Where spirit dreams have played. Hung above the cradle board, Or in the lodge up high, The dream net catches bad dreams, While good dreams slip on. Bad dreams become entangled Among the sinew thread. Good dreams slip through the center hole.
- Dream Catcher - The Life of Ernie Pepion. He was born in 1944 in Browning, Montana. He grew up on a Blackfeet reservation. He went to a non-Indian school.
Long ago when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language that only the spiritual leaders of the Lakota could understand. As he spoke Iktomi, the spider, took the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it and began to spin a web.
Blackfoot Indian Dream Catcher History
He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life...and how we begin our lives as infants and we move on to childhood, and then to adulthood. Finally, we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. 'But,' Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, 'in each time of life there are many forces -- some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you and steer you in the wrong direction.' He continued, 'There are many forces and different directions that can help or interfere with the harmony of nature, and also with the great spirit and all of his wonderful teachings.'
All the while the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web starting from the outside and working towards the center. When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the Lakota elder the web and said....'See, the web is a perfect circle but there is a hole in the center of the circle.' He said, 'Use the web to help yourself and you people to reach your goals and make use of your people's ideas, dreams and visions. 'If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas -- and the bad ones will go through the hole.'
The Lakota elder passed on his vision to his people and now the Sioux Indians use the dream catcher as the web of their life. It is hung above their beds or in their home to sift their dreams and visions. The good in their dreams are captured in the web of life and carried with them...but the evil in their dreams escapes through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer a part of them.
Indian Dreamcatcher Meaning
They believe that the dream catcher holds the destiny of their future.
A Sioux Legend
The Blackfoot Indians were a nation of American Indians with four distinctive tribes, one in Montana and the other in Alberta, Canada. Fierce buffalo hunters, this nomadic tribe followed their food source. With no experience in pottery, crafts or agriculture, they relied on the land. While natural food sources and small subsidized, the buffalo were their main source of food, clothing, shelter, tools and weapons.
Without modern weapons, the Blackfoot Indians would herd the buffalo into a enclosedarea where they could not escape. A corral, called a pis'kin, was built belowthe edge of a perpendicular cliff and enclosed with they natural surroundingsof the land. The Blackfoot Indians used a medicine man to coerce the buffaloto follow him towards the pis'kin. The other warriors formed a V, also knownas a chute, hiding behind trees and rocks. Once the buffalo were close enough,they would jump out chanting and waving their robes, startling the buffalo enoughto run along the rocks. They fell and were pushed into the pis'kin below, breakingtheir legs, necks, and backs as they went down the embankment. Once in the corralthey were killed by the arrows of the Indians.
The men of the Blackfoot Indians were completely free from the times theycould walk. The women of the tribes were treated as slaves. They had no freedomsfrom the time they were born until their deaths they answered to someone. Theywere often mutilated and murdered for trivial offenses against the husband. Whenthe man dies, his wives are given to his oldest brother. All material belongsare given to the sons and brothers.
The Blackfoot tribes slowly died off from starvations as the buffalo herdsgrew scarce. The died from disease as the Europeans moved into their lands. Todaythe surviving heirs still live on much of the Montana land they had long ago.
