As the story goes, the Spider Woman Asibikaashi was the protector1 of all the people of the Ojibwe Nation. As the Ojibwe spread across North America, however, Asibikaashi could no longer watch over all of them. Mothers and grandmothers started using twigs2 to make spider webs to hang over the beds of their children to protect them from bad dreams and evil thoughts. These were the first dreamcatchers.
　　According to legend, the spiderweb shape of dreamcatchers acts like a real spiderweb to catch and hold evil spirits. Dreamcatchers were originally from the Ojibwe Nation, one of many nations of Native Americans. As the Ojibwe intermarried3 and traded with other nearby nations, dreamcatchers spread across North America, but they were still very specific to only certain tribes.
　　In the 1960s and 1970s, however, Native American culture grew in popularity among non-Native Americans. The dreamcatcher became a symbol of Native American culture and not just the Ojibwe Nation. Today dreamcatchers have become big business. Many people around the world buy them for decorating windows and hang them over beds. Though dreamcatchers may not really be catching evil spirits, they are still a significant symbol of Native American history and culture.