I-1-75 Nez Perce parfleche.
The Nez Perce traditionally spoke one of the Penutian languages and continue to live in the Plateau region of western Montana and Idaho. Like many of the Plateau tribes, their material culture exhibited strong influences from the Great Plains Indian groups and also included some cultural influences from tribes of the Northwest Coast. Although parfleche from the Plateau are quite difficult to assign to a specific tribe, this example was collected from the Nez Perce in 1940 and it has the typical Nez Perce single pair of holes for tying the flaps.
Parfleche are packs of folded rawhide usually painted (rarely incised) in graphic geometric patterns. These were made by women of the Plains and Plateau; being nomadic these tribes required containers in which to transport possession. These packs, normally made in pairs (although one rarely finds an intact pair today), were strapped to pack horses or stacked on a travois which was then pulled by a horse. A very handsome example especially with the visual dominance of blue, dating between 1890 and 1910.
Approximately 27 inches long by 13 inches wide. $2,895.00