Students make their own dream catchers

Editor’s note: Each week throughout the summer, Enterprise intern Kate McCarty will attend a class at a county non-profit arts organization and write a story about the experience. Her first installment appears below.

Dreams are being made – and caught – in Leland.

Helen Raphael teaches students in her art class at the Old Art Building in Leland how to make dream catchers. Throughout the building, examples are hung on the walls. Deerskin and leather are wrapped around metal or wooden rings and strung with thread and beads. Bird feathers hang like ornaments from the bottom of the catchers.

The six students who took part in the class had inspiration all around them, especially after learning the story behind dream catchers.

“Dream catchers were originally made by the Woodland Indians,” Raphael told the students. “They would catch all the good dreams and filter them into the feathers hanging from the catcher and the bad dreams were burned off so the good ones were kept for another night.”

Raphael has been creating the Native American artwork pieces for 20 years.

“My cousin taught me and I’ve been doing it ever since,” she said.

Now it’s Raphael’s turn to teach others at the class, which is being taught for the first time this summer.

The students start by picking which beads and feathers they want to include in their creation. Two students in the class, Owen Neild and Vivian Feirberg, said they’d made dream catchers before.

“I did them in school,” said Neild, adding he was very excited to have the opportunity to create another dream catcher. “I like how they look and I like the feathers. I wanted the opportunity to do it again and I hadn’t seen the chance until this class.”

The students range from 6 to 10 years old. While Ellie Haun was new to the experience, she made quick progress on the one she started.

“I wanted to make one because my friends made one,” said Haun. “I just think they’re cool.”
Raphael said the class also teaches students something about the culture of the area, one reason she began creating dream catchers.

“With the Native American culture, it (creativity) just comes naturally,” she said, adding that a dream catcher project also provides “good stress relief.”

The Leelanau Community Cultural Center and the Old Art Building will host another dream catcher class on Wednesday, Aug. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon. The cost to build your own dream catcher is $25.

For more information or to register, call the Old Art Building at 256-2131. A schedule, and other events and classes, is also available at www.oldartbuilding.com.