The Legend of the Dreamcatcher

"A spider was quietly spinning her web in her own space, beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother. Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away.  One day as she was watching, her grandson came in.  "Nokomis-iya!" he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider, picked up a shoe, and went to hit it.

"No-keegwa," the old lady whispered, "don't hurt her."

"Nokomis, why do you protect the spider?" asked the little boy.  The old lady smiled, but did not answer.

When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her for saving its life. The spider said to her, "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web.  You have admired my work.  In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift." She smiled her special spider smile and moved away, spinning as she went.  Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window.  "See how I spin?" she said.  "See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams.  Only good dreams will go through the small hole.  This is my gift to you.  Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered.  The bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web."

“Why not teach school children more of the wholesome proverbs and legends of our people?  That we killed game only for food, not for fun. Tell your children of the friendly acts of the Indians to the white people who first settled here.  Tell them of our leaders and heroes and their deeds. Put in your history books the Indian's part in the World War. Tell how the Indian fought for a country of which he was not a citizen, for a flag to which he had no claim, and for a people who treated him unjustly.  We ask this, Chief, to keep sacred the memory of our people.”

      – Grand Council Fire of American Indians to the Mayor of Chicago, 1927