I would like to introduce you to something that I believe is near to the core of the mindset of the Native American Indian. The following picture is called a dream catcher. There are many legends about which tribe first originated a dream catcher. One story has it starting in the Northeast, one has it originating from the Lakota, but I like the one best that originates with the Ojibwe tribe. Possibly I am biased in the respect that I am from Ojibwe background, but even if I wasn't I think I would still choose their version of the meaning of dream catchers.
Most of us dream. The Amerind,being a very spiritual culture, have many meanings for their dreams. The old ways of the Ojibwe, was to have a dream catcher in their home. They believed that the very air that we breath at night was filled with many different dreams, bad and good. The dream catcher was placed up in the air to catch the dreams that moved in the night. The good dreams seemed to always know where they were going and found their way to go through the center hole of the dream catcher. The bad dreams, did not know the way, so they were caught in the webbing of the dream catcher, and were destroyed at first light of day, along with the evil spirits in the bad dreams. Small dream catchers were placed by the children's beds so they too would have only good dreams as they grew up.
I would like to give a very special thanks to Glen and Sonja Davis for the Dream Catcher graphic. If you would like to learn more about their Native American Arts and Crafts business, please visit them on the web at Catch A Dream
As this page builds, I plan to include some history, culture, and a look into the future of the Amerind / Native American. I realize that some may have sensitity about using Amerind to represent Native American, but I feel that it is a more updated term. Possibly to be politically correct, we should be called Natives of the Land, as the word American it borrowed from some explorer of long ago.
I would appreciate your comments and input in helping to build this page into a worthwhile and informative page re: Amerinds. I will endeavor to follow up on any suggestions, graphics or links that you might suggest.