Dreamcatchers originated with the Ojibwe people and were later adopted by some neighboring nations through intermarriage and trade. It wasn’t until the Pan-Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, that they were adopted by Native Americans of a number of different nations.
Some consider the dreamcatcher a symbol of unity among the various Indian Nations, and a general symbol of identification with Native American or First Nations cultures. The Ojibwe believe that a dreamcatcher changes a person’s dreams. According to Konrad J. Kaweczynski, „Only good dreams would be allowed to filter through… Bad dreams would stay in the net, disappearing with the light of day.“ Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.
