Jingle Dress

This story was passed on from generation in the Ojibway Nation and it came as a vision.
An elderly man had a daughter who was very sick. He prayed and offered tobacco to his creator for his daughter to get well. A vision came to him to make his daughter a dress (a jingle dress) made of jingles.She was to wear this dress to make her well.
In the Ojibway Tribe from the Lake of the Woods area this is called "Odiizeoon". That means it is something given through a vision for a particular person from the spirit world. They were instructed to prepare a feast for the dress to give thanks to the creator.
This jingle dress is held very highly in the Ojibway Nation. It is very sacred because of its origin and the purpose it was given. Because it was given in this manner it is to be treated with respect.

Floral Beadwork

Most tribes had geometric designs in beadwork. Because of the European influence, Ojibwa, Metis & Crees were the first to create beadwork in floral designs.  
Dream Catchers

Within the Ojibwe Tribe, dreams, or visions in the night, were so vital that children were not given a name until a “namer” (an individual designated to name the child) after the individual had a dream about what name should be given to the child.  This “namer” may have also given the child a charm that was woven in the design to resemble the web of a spider so as to protect the infant’s dreams.   This, along with the remaining child’s toys, such as bells, shells and pouches made of leather, this “dream catcher” was hung on the child’s cradleboard by the hoop.

     In the book, Chippewa Customs, (Ojiibwe) written by Frances Densmore and published in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1979 by the  Minnesota Historical Society Press explains about the Ojibwe/Chippewa Tribe in the early 1900’s.  In the book, the author describes how the articles that represent the spider webs were said to:  “they catch and hold everything evil as a spider’s web catches and holds everything that comes into contact with it.”