Kathleen Windsor

Informative Speech Outline

COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
Topic: Dream Catchers

General Purpose: To inform the audience

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about dream catchers

Thesis: Today I will inform the audience about dream catchers.

I. Introduction:

a. Attention Getter: Do you dream? According to the Native American Vault,

everyone dreams whether they remember it after waking up or not. Psychologists

such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have tried to interpret dreams as well as

subconscious thoughts. This has led to theories and large quantities of written

analysis.

b. Reason to Listen: However, they are not the first to investigate this subject. Native

Americans believe that dreams influence the conscious soul of the dreamer and often

encouraging change in personality traits such as confidence, maturity, kindness, and

loyalty.

c. Thesis Statement: Today I will inform the audience about dream catchers.

d. Credibility Statement: I have read several articles about the history of dream

catchers and how they have developed into some modern-day cultures.

e. Preview of Main Points:

1. I will start by discussing the legends of how the legends of the dream catcher

2. Then, I will discuss the variations of the original dream catcher and the

modern dream catcher.

3. Finally, I will discuss the use of dream catchers in modern day culture.
 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
The Body:

I. The Origin of the Dream Catcher:

First, I’d like to share the legends behind the creation of the dream catcher. There are two legends

from separate Native American tribes on their belief and use of the dream catcher.

A. The Ojibwe tribe which is also called the Chippewa tribe in the United States has passed

down the Legend of Spider Woman.

1. According to The New World Encyclopedia, the dream catcher was created

by Asibikaashi or the Spider Woman, she directed mothers, sisters and

grandmothers to weave magical webs for new babies. They used dream

catchers so that only pleasant dreams would enter the mind of the babies as

they slept.

2. The Ojibwe believe that the dream catcher collects the bad dreams within the

web and those bad dreams are then burned away in the morning sun. As for the

good dreams, they are guided by the small hole in the center of the dream catcher

to the feathers then to the sleeper’s head.

B. The Lakota Tribe has two legends of the dream catcher

1. According to the New World Encyclopedia, the Lakota tells a story of an elder

man who had a vision on a mountaintop. Iktomi, the great teacher, appeared as a

spider and as he spoke to the elder man, he spun a web on a hoop of feathers,

horse hairs, and beads. Iktomi was speaking to the elder man about the cycles of

life. Once the dream catcher was complete Iktomi explained how belief in the

Great Spirit would allow the hoop to catch good dreams and let the bad dreams

escape through the hole in the center of the hoop.

 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
2. The second legend of the Lakota is about a Shaman, He had been very ill and

was plagued with bad dreams; in his effort to get well he slept with the Medicine

Wheel. One night a spider spun a web within the wheel and an owl flew above

the wheel that same night and shed a feather that became caught in the web,

hanging from the center hole. The following morning, the Shaman awoke from a

peaceful night’s sleep which was free of bad dreams. His illness was gone, and

he felt that the medicine wheel must have been the explanation.

3. The Lakota believe that dream catchers collect the good dreams in the web and

will be carried with the owner of the dream catcher for their entire day. The bad

dreams are passed through the hole in the middle to remain harmless to the owner

of the dream catcher.

Transition: Now that I’ve explained the origin of the dream catcher, I’d like to explain the variations in

the design of the dream catcher from the original style to modern day styles.

II. Variations in the Designs of Dream Catchers

A. Original Dream Catchers

1. The spider-like weave pattern of the original dream catchers consists of

multiple parts; each part means something different to create the complete art

piece. The circle of the hoop, which is usually made from willow twigs or

bendable wood, represents the sun and the web is connected by eight hoops to

represent the legs of Spider Woman. If the web is connected by seven hoops it

represents the Seven Prophecies, the feathers represent spirit and life.

2. Each part of the original dream catcher represented something. According to

the Native American Vault the hoop served as the frame for the web and
 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
represented the circle of life. The web that resembled a spider’s web catches bad

dreams or as the Lakota believed, the good dreams were caught in the web.

Finally, the feathers held multiple purposes as they hang from the hoop. Many

cultures believed that the feathers are the guide for the good dreams to the

dreamer’s mind.

B. Modern Dream Catchers

1. Modern weave patterns include stars, loops, or other decorative patterns, not

just the spider web weave design. The spider design is now uncommon in

modernized dream catchers. The use of feathers and beads is still common,

however; the symbolism is not as important for commercial use of dream

catchers.

2.

2. Over the years a few additional items have been added to the dream catcher. A

single bead represents the spider that made the web, but many beads represent the

good dreams that are trapped during the night. Gem stones have replaced the

symbolism that feathers once held and arrowheads increase the strength and

protection that the dreamcatcher has. Certain colors used also have a meaning,

bright colors such as silver and gold attract and take away bad dreams; yellow

represents the sun, as blue represents the river; green represents grass and red

represents the earth.

Transition: Now that I have discussed the variations in the design of the dream catchers, I will talk

about dream catchers in modern day culture.

III. Dream Catchers in Modern Day Culture

A. The Native American Point of View

 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
1. “From the end of the nineteenth century, a growing number of white

Americans came first to appreciate Native spiritual traditions and then to see in

them something that was conspicuously lacking in the mainstream culture” stated

by Philip Jenkins author of Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America

Discovered Native Spirituality. But, according to the Native American Vault

“some Native American individuals and groups feel that the commercialization

of dream catchers is an unfortunate misappropriation of spiritual traditions” while

some actively engage in the manufacture and sale of dream catchers.

2. Today, most dream catchers are found hanging in places other than a child’s

cradle as initially designed for. They are hung in living rooms or from the

rearview mirror of a car or even on keychains. Opinions vary in reference to the

dream catcher, according to the New World Encyclopedia “Some Native

Americans think of the dreamcatchers as a sweet, harmless, and loving little

tradition, others consider them a symbol of native unity, and still others think of

them as a tacky, simplistic, thoughtless perversion of something sacred.”

Conclusion:

a. Review of Main Points:

1. Today I have discussed the origins of the dream catcher

2. Then, the variations between the original dream catcher and modern dream catcher

3. Finally, I discussed the use of dream catchers in modern day culture.

b. Restate Thesis: Today I informed the audience about dream catchers.

c. Closure: In conclusion, The Native American Vault states that “the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of

1990 prohibits manufacturers from suggesting that their products are Native American made
 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
unless the manufacturer is a member of any federally or state recognized Indian tribe or certified

as an Indian artisan by an Indian tribe”. If you want to get an authentic dream catcher, the

package will state the tribe that allow you to know where it came from. Dream catchers began as

a spiritual object within the Native American culture of two tribe but have rapidly developed into

a commercialized mass-marketed object with a wide range of uses. A dream catcher can be used

in a spiritual manner, to represent the historical aspect such as in museums or just as decoration in

your home. It’s up to you how you how you use this historical art piece.
 Kathleen Windsor
Informative Speech Outline
COM 1650 - Professor Stevens
References

Dreamcatcher. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2019, from

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dreamcatcher

Jenkins, P. (2006). Dream catchers: How mainstream America discovered native spirituality.

Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

NativeAmericanVault.com. (n.d.). Legend of the Dreamcatcher. Retrieved March 18, 2019, from

https://www.nativeamericanvault.com/pages/legend-of-the-dreamcatcher

Oberholtzer, C. (2017). Dream catchers - legend, lore and artifacts. Firefly Books.

World book (Vol. 5, D). (2003). Indianopolis, IN: World Book.