About the artist:
Arianna has Native American roots from her father’s side of the family and grew up with him teaching the traditional beliefs of the Diné tribe, commonly known as Navajo. The connection to her ancestors through her art is also a connection to her father, having a big impact on her life and artistic view. She incorporates this into her paintings, dream catchers, and way of life. (Picture of them together to the right)
Arianna puts all of her love, creativity and positive energy into creating each dream catcher, with the purpose of protecting others on their path of life (read more below). She specializes in all natural and upcycled dream catchers, using tulip poplar bark, kudzu, palm tree fibers, natural wooden and bamboo beads, shells, and upcycled beads and fabric.
To follow along artistic journey, grab a business card, follow her on instagram /facebook @whitewolfstonecreations or visit her website whitewolfstonecreations.square.site.com
About MMIW (Missing & Murdered Indigenous Woman)
Did you know that indigenous women are 3x more likely to be victims of violent crime than other women, and the violence they face is often more severe?
As a group that has been “socially, economically, and politically marginalized”, Indigenous women have been frequent targets for hatred and violence. Underlying factors such as poverty and homelessness contribute to their victimization, as do historical factors such as racism, sexism, and the legacy of imperialism. Indigenous communities in both the US and Canada have fought to bring awareness to the connection between sex trafficking, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and the women who go missing and are murdered through the movement of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).
A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement, the MMIW movement. It stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. To read more about this movement, visit the MMIW website (mmiwusa.org).
Arianna wanted to bring focus to this movement and honor it by donating $100 from each painting to the movement when sold.
About The Traditional Purpose of Dream Catchers
Dream catchers have been modernized in our present day with the meaning of catching bad dreams and are to be hung above the bed. This meaning derived from the traditional purpose of the dream catcher, and the Native American spiritual beliefs of what happens when humans dream.The traditional sacred purpose of dream catchers is to ward away evil spirits and energy, catching the negative ones in the webbing and letting the positive ones through the center. Most tribes have varying beliefs about what happens when humans dream, but most highlight the concept of the dream world being a spiritual world, where the human spirit goes when the body sleeps. The belief is that the body is soulless when sleeping, leaving the body vulnerable to evil spirits and energy to enter it, especially children. The dream catcher is meant to protect the body until the soul returns. This belief was interpreted into catching the bad dreams created by the negative spirits, then later interpreted into just catching bad dreams and lost the spiritual protection associated with them. Dream catchers are traditionally hung above the entrances of the home, being most tribes slept in teepees or some form of a hut style home, with only one entrance, a dream catcher wasn’t needed over the space of sleeping.
The traditional way of making dream catchers is with all-natural materials such as vines, bark, animal gut or leather for the webbing, hand-carved wooden beads, and feathers. Each part of the dream catcher has a purp[ose in upholding the sacred protection. Each feather has a different spiritual meaning depending on the bird it comes from and is seen as the representation of the spiritual path of life. Believing that with each step in life, one can stray from their purpose, hurt others, and fall as low as possible, but like a ruffled feather, with care and love, they can smooth out those ruffles and continue forward in their path. The feathers hang at the bottom of the dream catches to protect the path of life through the protection of the spirit. The more time, natural elements, positivity and thought put into a dream catcher the more protective it is believed to be.
The dream catcher above is what Arianna considers her masterpiece. Arianna constructed the smaller separate dream catchers inside the larger one, with hand selected crystals and rocks to bring forth positive energy. At the center is a hand stretched canvas, painted with acrylic, meant to capture the spirit of the hawk through the hawks dance. In many Native American tribes they have sacred dances that are meant to channel a spirit or used to honor a spirit. Many tribes believe that animals, like humans, have a spirit and are signs from the Great Creator. The purpose of this painting is to capture the specific connection at the end of a dance when the dancer and the spirit have connected. This dancer is holding in her hand and wearing a red tail hawk feather in her hair, for the purpose of the dance, while the hawk spirit is being reflected in the water. The red tail hawk represents many different meanings to different tribes but to Arianna she was taught that it represents a protector, wisdom, and a sign that the Great Spirit and her ancestors are watching over her. Whenever she sees one she thanks them for their protection and guidance and is reminded of the connection she feels within. Ten percent of the proceeds from this masterpiece will be donated to help fund education on a reservation in need. Stop in and see it for yourself!
