I-38-140 Blackfoot parfleche.
Parfleche are packs of folded rawhide usually painted (rarely incised) with geometric designs. These were made by the women of plains and Plateau tribes; being nomadic these tribes required containers in which to transport possessions. These packs, normally made in pairs (although one rarely finds an intact pair today), were strapped to horse or stacked on a travois pulled by a horse or dog. The rather unusual word “parfleche” is a corruption of the French Canadian “to deflect an arrow”. This is in reference to the hide shields, made of the same material as these packs, that a number of tribes used in warfare and which were relatively arrow resistant. Unlike shields (typically made from buffalo) , parfleche were made from a wide range of animal hide including buffalo, elk, deer, horse, moose and cow.
This parfleche is a Blackfoot example, one of the more powerful tribes of the northern Great Plains. The Blackfoot are composed of three divisions: the Blood, Piegan and Siksika. Their parfleche are less elongated than those of many other tribes and exhibit the distinctive slightly trapezoidal outer flaps. Also, three pairs of holes secure the flaps on Blackfoot examples. A great old example from the Craig Bates collection.
22" long by 14"w. Circa 1890. $2,250.00