Intended to "catch" bad dreams and defend children against illness and evil spirits, the protective charms known as "dreamcatchers" represented the Ojibwa community's hope for the next generation. Oberholtzer discusses the origins of this symbol of Native spirituality, the diverse designs and materials used in its production, and its appropriation by the New Age movement.

"Illustrated with 70 color images of visually powerful historical and contemporary works, this book--which accompanies an exhibition of the same title opening in August 2013 at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York--reveals how Anishinaabe (also known in the United States as Ojibwe or Chippewa) Native American artists have expressed the deeply rooted spiritual and social dimensions of their relations with the Great Lakes region"--...