Dreamcatchers

Taylor, Haley and Emilie and Crafts
My Dreamcatcher

Picnic Lunch in Hay Field Heading East Through North Dakota

I did mention that Amanda and her daughters were very crafty. By that I mean they are very clever with crafts! Well take a look at what the three older girls have made under the guidance and watchful eye of their mum. They often get first prizes for their entries in local fairs.

While we were staying on their Ranch, Murray kept occupied learning how to mow down and bale hay, which left me time to play with the girls. Amanda taught me how to make a dreamcatcher. For those of you unfamiliar with American Indian culture, dreamcatchers were an object woven by the women and traditionally hung over a child's bed to filter out bad dreams and thus prevent nightmares. There is an outer ring with a web centre made of a sinew, and decorated with a few beads. Feathers hung from the ring. By the time the child reached adulthood it would have disintegrated coinciding with a time when they were no longer needed. They are now a big seller in all tourist shops selling American Indian artifacts. Here is the one I made yesterday. As I was making it, the girls were making earrings for themselves, and Amanda was cooking hamburgers to take out to the field for the men's lunches. Then it was time to say goodbye and we drove off to the Minnesota border where we are at the moment. Later today we will check out the headquarters of the Mississippi River where it begins as a trickle in the north west of Minnesota.