Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 86 CHIPPEWA CUSTOMS by Frances Densmore United States Government Printing Office Washington 1929

Page 52
"Two articles representing spider webs were usually hung on the hoop of a child's cradle board, and it was said that "they catch everything evil as a spider's web catches and holds everything that comes in contact with it." These articles (pl. 24, a) consist of wooden hoops about 3 ½ inches in diameter filled with an imitation of a spider's web. In old times the web was made of nettle-stalk twine and colored dark red with the juice of bloodroot and the inner bark of the wild plum. In a similar Pawnee charm the netting symbolized the Spider Woman, a deity who controlled the buffalo. In later times the web is made of dark-red yarn."

Page 113
"(6) Even infants were provided with protective charms. Examples of these are the "spiderwebs" hung on the hoop of a cradle board. These articles (pl.24, a) consisted of wooden hoops about 3 ½ inches in diameters filled with an imitation of a spider's web made of fine yarn, usually dyed red. In old times this netting was made of nettle fiber. Two spider webs were usually hung on the hoop, and it was said that they "caught any harm that might be in the air as a spider's web catches and holds whatever comes in contact with it."

Frances Densmore (1867-1957) was from Red Wing, Minnesota. She had musical training, studying at Oberlin College Conservatory in Ohio. Her childhood home was near the shore of the Mississippi River where the Sioux camped on an island opposite the town across the water. As a child she would listen to the Sioux drums as they played. She appreciated this music and wanted to document it before it was forgotten. Using a cylinder phonograph she recorded music of the Chippewa in Minnesota as well as other Native American music. She also studied their culture. This bulletin is just one of her publications.