Bev Longboat worked as the executive director at the Niwasa Head Start Program at Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. They are based on Asibikaashi, a Spider Woman who helps and protects the Ojibwe people. Traditionally these charms were 3.5-5 inches in diameter, made of wood and red yarn or nettle fibre. Their spider web charms are the original “dreamcatchers.” They are the second largest Native population of Canada, after the Cree people. The Ojibwe peoples live in the Northern Midwest of the USA and Southern Ontario and Quebec. The Ojibwe Nation is an indigenous culture of North America. We always try to provide as much context and education as possible alongside our projects, so this is a brief overview of the history of dreamcatchers. One of our projects involves making dreamcatchers out of paper plates and string (lesson plan here).
