parflechen.adj.

Brit.

/ˈpɑːflɛʃ/, U.S.

/ˈpɑrˌflɛʃ/

Forms: 1800s pare-fleche, 1800s parflêche, 1800s parflesh, 1800s– parfleche, 1900s– parflash, 1900s– parfléche, 1900s– parflèche.

Origin: Probably a borrowing from French. Etymon: French pare-flèche.

Etymology: Probably < Canadian French pare-flèche shield (1739, P. G. de V. de la Vérendrye) < French parer to protect oneself against (see parry v.) + flèche flèche n.

A. n.

1. A variety of thick stiff rawhide, esp. of a buffalo, traditionally prepared by some North American Indian peoples to produce a hard-wearing leather. Also in extended use.The normal hide-tanning process of thinning and softening is omitted, and the hide made be made even thicker and tougher by being shrunk over a fire.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [noun] > buffalo-skin

buff-leather1574

buffalo-hide1703

buffalo-skin1732

parfleche1823

1823 E. James Acct. Exped. Rocky Mts. III. iii. 50 These traders offered various articles, such as coarse cloths, beads, vermillion, kettles, knives, guns..in exchange for horses and mules, bison-robes, and parchment or parfleche.

1827 E. Ermatinger in Trans. Royal Soc. Canada 1912 (1913) 6 ii. 110 We embarked with crews and cargoes as follows: viz..1 pack Parfleches.

1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah vii. 106 With a sole of par-fleche, lapping over on top of the foot.

1899 G. B. Grinnell in Atlantic Monthly 83 25/2 In an Indian village..the hand that scrapes the parfleche rules the camp.

1956 V. Fisher Pemmican 199 The old man's face was a parfleche of seams.

2002 Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, S. Dakota) 11 Dec. 1 d Miniature cradle board ornaments of parfleche or beaded leather.

2. An article, esp. a bag or case, made of parfleche.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > bag > [noun] > skin

bladder?c1225

bulgec1230

bouge1387

budget1432

bulgetc1550

paidle1568

catskin1599

budge1606

petaca1648

taureau1794

buffalo-bag1856

mochila1856

parfleche1867

skin bag1910

1867 Harper's Mag. Oct. 584/2 The teet-sock or parfleche is generally made of a dried buffalo hide, the hair of which has been beaten off with a stone..; it is then cut in the shape of an envelope.

1882 R. I. Dodge Our Wild Indians xix. 254 (note) Among almost all the Plains tribes, the common name for a skin so prepared is ‘parfleche’, and almost everything made of it is also ‘parfleche’.

a1918 G. Stuart 40 Years on Frontier (1925) II. 40 [The medicine man] usually had a highly ornamental parflash, in which he kept one or more fetishes.

1974 Sci. Amer. Jan. 129/1 These modern ingenuities do not overshadow the photographs within: a parfleche, a yurt or an old folding feather-bed-in-a-chest.

2002 National Rev. (Nexis) 26 Sept. Kaya collects huckleberries and camas roots, and keeps her deer-antler bracelet in her painted parfleche.

B. adj. (attributive).

Made of parfleche.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [adjective] > made of skin or hide of specific animals

buckskin1565

buffle1577

sheepskin1602

oxhide?1609

goatskin?1614

hogskin1658

cowhide1823

goat1833

parfleche1845

shagreened1847

pigskin1855

alligator1861

lizard-skin1895

parfleched1940

1845 J. C. Frémont Rep. Exploring Exped. Rocky Mts. 237 Some of us had the misfortune to wear moccasins with parflêche soles, so slippery that we could not keep our feet.

1938 P. H. Godsell Red Hunters of Snows 33 Here braves..stored..commodities in painted parfleche bags for the forthcoming journey to York Factory.

1952 Beaver June 6/1 The hides were manufactured into robes or were divested of their hair and made into tepee covers, clothing, moccasins, parfléche trunks and shields.

1986 R. B. Morrison & C. R. Wilson Native Peoples xx. 423 Women [among the Blackfoot] were responsible for decorating liners, backrests, and parfleche bags.

Derivatives

parˈfleched adj. rare made of or covered with parfleche.

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