Parfleche

painted parfleche

parfleche, tough, folded rawhide carrying bag made by the Plains Indians of North America; more loosely applied, the term also refers to many specialized rawhide articles. The Plains Indians had an abundant source of hides in the buffalo they hunted, but, as they were nomadic, they had little opportunity to tan the skins. Parfleche, or rawhide, was prepared by cleaning and dehairing the skin and then by stretching it and allowing it to dry in the sun. This process created a stiff but durable leather that was used for many items, including bags, thongs, and war shields.

The parfleche bag, or trunk (valise), was assembled by folding the two ends of a long, rectangular piece of rawhide over to meet and form a kind of envelope. The two flaps were thonged together, and the whole was used in tandem with another, similar parfleche, one strapped to each side of a horse. The maximum dimensions of the parfleche were generally 2 feet (60 cm) by 3 feet (90 cm). The large flat surface of the parfleche bag was invariably painted with colourful, basically geometric, abstract designs; a sharpened porous buffalo bone served as an effective paint brush. Sometimes the rawhide was incised to highlight a design.