Dreamcatchers are an authentic American Indian tradition, from the Ojibway Chippews tribe. The people would tie sinew strands in a web around a small round or tear-shaped frame, in a somewhat similar pattern to how they tied webbing for Ojibway snowshoes, and hang this "dream-catcher" as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. The legend is that the bad dreams will get caught in the web. Traditionally Native American dreamcatchers are small (only a few inches across) and made of bent wood and sinew string with a feather hanging from the netting, but wrapping the frame in leather is also pretty common, and today you'll often see them made with sturdier string meant to last longer.
