My first experience with the native american other

My first experience of Native American culture came at a very early age. I was about four when I was given a make your own dream catcher kit by my granddad. At the time I was given the kit I had no idea of what it was for. Soon after I got the kit, me and my dad put it together, as we were doing this I asked my dad what was a dream catcher and what do they do. My dad then explained to me that dream catchers are used by the Native Americans and they are hung above their beds. This is done because the Native Americans believe that if you have a dream catcher above your bed it stops the bad dreams from getting into your mind and only lets the good ones in. As a child I thought that this was amazing. It sounded so mystical to me and it was something so removed from anything that I had known before. Also as I was growing up, my parents always had a lot of different artefacts around the house I came to realise that these were different native American objects, we had wooden carvings of animals on the walls of our living room and conservatory, we also had drums made from animal skin which I would often bang on when I was bored as children do. So I suppose technically my first experience of the native American other was when I was a child, but growing up I was surrounded by all different aspects of native American culture which I wouldn’t consider other I would consider it familiar almost comforting.
My first experience with the Native American other

My first experience of Native American culture came at a very early age. I was about four when I was given a make your own dream catcher kit by my granddad. At the time I was given the kit I had no idea of what it was for. Soon after I got the kit, me and my dad put it together, as we were doing this I asked my dad what was a dream catcher and what do they do. My dad then explained to me that dream catchers are used by the Native Americans and they are hung above their beds. This is done because the Native Americans believe that if you have a dream catcher above your bed it stops the bad dreams from getting into your mind and only lets the good ones in. As a child I thought that this was amazing. It sounded so mystical to me and it was something so removed from anything that I had known before. Also as I was growing up, my parents always had a lot of different artefacts around the house I came to realise that these were different native American objects, we had wooden carvings of animals on the walls of our living room and conservatory, we also had drums made from animal skin which I would often bang on when I was bored as children do. So I suppose technically my first experience of the native American other was when I was a child, but growing up I was surrounded by all different aspects of native American culture which I wouldn’t consider other I would consider it familiar almost comforting.