This score is a ranking based on how natural,
eco-friendly, and non-toxic a product is, and is rated out of a possible total 5 stars.

STARS: 5 out of 5 stars for eco-friendliness
COMMENTS: A bit about the artisan:
Ron G. Bowan, Jr. is a proud member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Keshena, WI. He learned the art of making dreamcatchers as part of an effort to maintain the legacy of Native American traditions. He gathers his black birch branches from the forest, and in the Native American tradition of using every part of an animal, he obtains his turkey and goose feathers from hunters who hunt to obtain their food (Ron himself does not hunt), which otherwise would have just been thrown away. The web of the dreamcatchers is made using synthetic sinew.

Each dreamcatcher is crafted with care, and patience, and love. Each is unique and a work of art in and of itself.

Ron's family left the reservation for Chicago when he was an elementary student, in search of jobs and a way to support themselves. His parents became very active members of the Native American community in Chicago. His father, Ron Bowan, Sr. worked in the 1980s with NAES College (Native American Education Services) and in the 1990s as the executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, whose mission includes preserving Native American tribal heritage while living in a modern city and promoting their culture to non-Indians.

Ron Jr. has maintained his cultural heritage by learning the traditions of his people: Native American dance, studying Native American history, and crafting traditional dreamcatchers, which he learned through the tradition of Pow-wow (a Native American celebration of life.) His family traveled every year on the Pow-wow trail in order to actively participate in their culture.

Pow Wow’s are a celebration of life and a chance for Indians to share their culture with the American public. Ron’s family traveled every year on the Pow-wow trail (in the Midwest.)  This was done to ensure the family learned how to work as a unit and within a community. Through this active participation in their culture, Ron and the rest of his family learned many things about Pow Wow dancing and singing, arts and crafts (including dreamcatchers), Indian History and contemporary Indian politics

Your purchase helps this Native American artisan carry on the traditions of his ancestors for many generations to come.

The Story of the Dreamcatcher
by Finder

Long ago in the days of the ancestors, some of the children of the people were having strange, frightening dreams.  As the children talked to other children, the troubling dreams spread among them like a plague.

The parents of the children were concerned. The people wanted their children to be happy but they didn’t know what to do.  The people went to talk to the shaman. The shaman listened patiently as the parents told him about their distress.

The shaman told the parents that he could help. But he would need to spend some time in counsel with the spirits before he would have a solution. The shaman would have to enter the dream world to find the answer.

Upon entering the dream world the shaman was approached by the four elements: Air, Earth, Water and Fire. Air had already heard of the parent’s concern, and had carried the message on the wind to the other elements. All the spirits in the dream world loved the children and wanted to help return the children to their state of peaceful sleep.

The elements and the shaman dreamed together for a long time. They finally came to understand that:  Air could carry the children’s dreams. Earth could hold the dreams within her hoop. Water could wash and separate dreams - the wanted from the unwanted. Fire could use the morning sun to burn up the unwanted dreams that are caught in the web.

Now all they needed was something to capture the dreams as they were carried by the air. Try as they might, the shaman and the elements could not think of a way to catch the dreams.

Grandmother Spider had been listening!

She said, "Beautiful, loving elements, I can help you as you help me every day." Grandmother Spider continued, "I can weave a special web that only wanted dreams can escape down to the dreamer."

And so she did, and the first Dreamcatcher was made.

The shaman brought the dreamcatcher with him when he made his journey back from the dream world. All of the families of the people made dreamcatchers. The families hung them above where the children slept, in a place that was seen by the sun. No longer were the children troubled by unwanted dreams. Instead they had happy dreams and peaceful sleep.  And so, at last, Great Spirit looked into the dreams of the children and smiled?