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Columbine's Dream Catcher to Bring Comfort in Red Lake

By Kieran Nicholson
Denver Post Staff Writer



Jefferson County - In Red Lake, Minn., a nightmare hangs over the rural community.

Images and flashes of gunshots and death at the local high school are only weeks old, leaving residents shaken and clinging to their faith.

And praying for good dreams.

Soon, they will get a little help - good medicine from a school that knows too much about tragedy, loss and the search for new hope.

The Columbine community will be passing on the high school's dream catcher, a Native American symbol used to ward off bad dreams. The dream catcher was a gift to the Jefferson County school in 1999, when the community was still reeling from the deadly shootings that claimed 15 lives.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Columbine tragedy.

Native American parents and Columbine students say the gift is a reminder to Red Lake residents that they are not alone.

"It hurts," said Michelle Wolf, a Native American with children in Jefferson County schools. "We are all related, and we are all part of The Nation. We have an obligation to support and help them."

The dream catcher was sent here by the Muskegon, Mich., Indian Education Program, composed mostly of Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa Indians, shortly after the Columbine shootings.

Fourteen Native American students attended Columbine at the time. Deborah Esquibel Hunt, coordinator of the Jefferson County School District's Indian Education Program, recently met with Columbine students and staff to discuss giving the dream catcher to Red Lake.

The students were enthusiastic about the idea.

Soon after, Wolf called Deloris Cloud-Hammit, the Indian education coordinator of the Red Lake Nation, to discuss the appropriateness of the gift.

Cloud-Hammit was touched by the overture, Wolf said.

Dream catchers have different meanings among tribes, said Jerry Williams, a Native American who has children in Jefferson County schools.

Dream catchers are formed in a circular pattern with woven webs and are designed to ward off bad dreams. They include beads, feathers and other adornments as part of the tapestry.

The ancient spiritual symbols, which are hung over or by a bed, can demonstrate the "circle of life," Williams said.

In Red Lake, some students haven't returned to school since the March 21 shootings that left 10 dead in the town.

Classes at the high school were sparsely attended when the school reopened April 12 - only about 90 students, less than one-third, showed up.

School officials in Red Lake are hoping that interest in the prom could help bring all the students back.

This year's Red Lake prom, on April 30, will be open to all 300 students, including freshmen and sophomores.

Tribal leaders in Red Lake, which is about 240 miles northwest of the Twin Cities and one of the poorest areas in Minnesota, are seeking donations of prom items, including previously worn formal dresses, shoes, purses, costume jewelry and young men's attire.

Door prizes and cash donations also are being accepted.

Columbine High School students attended their prom this past weekend. This week, they are gathering items to ship to Red Lake next week.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to have the great experience we had," said Jessica Allen, a junior at Columbine.

Allen's older sister, Jennifer, was among the Columbine students trapped in the science room the day of the shootings. Jessica was a fifth-grader at the time, but she remembers the outpouring of support from around the country.

Jessica is donating the dress she wore to Columbine's prom, along with shoes and jewelry.

"We realize the importance of giving support in a time of need," she said. "The letters we received from other communities and other states was very comforting."

Williams helped write a letter, about the dream catcher, that has been sent to Red Lake.

"It served to remind us that in the circle of life, we will all be together again. ... It is in this spirit we send it to you," he wrote.

And Williams wants Minnesota to be the dream catcher's last destination - that Red Lake will be the last place with such bad dreams.

"I hope this stops at Red Lake and it doesn't have to go any further," he said. "I hope that is where it ends."

Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.