parfleches at the c.m. russell museum

Origins

Parfleche is a French Canadian word originated by voyagers at the time of their earliest contacts with Prairie and Eastern Plains tribes in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It is derived from parer (to parry or turn aside) and fleche (arrow), which apparently refers to war shields that were made of heavy rawhide. The term was used to describe the untanned skin itself and, by extension, any object constructed from that material. Eventually, it became the common name for the large, folded, envelope-like containers of rawhide, as distinct from other types of rawhide cases. Within the last few decades, the term parfleche has come to designate all of the various forms of painted rawhide. It is important to note that the word was never adopted by the individual tribes, whose languages included specific words for rawhide and the objects produced from it.

It is not known when and under what circumstances the first parfleches were made, but they probably originated with the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. They were essential to the way of life practiced by these groups and were made in the greatest numbers during the height of Plains culture from 1750 to 1880. The Plains Indians were a highly mobile people who followed the path of the buffalo. All of their possessions from their tipis and bedding to their cookery had to be packed up and moved by horse from camp to camp. To carry their belongings, Indian women created bags and cases of various sizes and shapes out of buckskin and rawhide. These items were highly utilitarian in design, but they were also decorated with care and purpose by their owners. Bags were beaded and fringed, and feathers, claws and hooves were often incorporated into the decorations. Some storage bags were fashioned from hides that had been wood-smoked to keep the leather supple and give it a golden hue. Others were shaped from wet rawhide and then dried into rigid, box-like storage containers.

The need for parfleches increased with the introduction of the horse by the Spanish in the 1600s – resulting in greater mobility – and the ability of these societies to hunt and wage war – resulting in a substantial increase in possessions and material wealth. The painting of parfleche was explored most fully in Plains culture – resulting in the greatest diversity of techniques and styles. The parfleche is part of a long tradition of hide painting practiced by the Woodland tribes of the Northeast and Western Great Lakes regions. The visual elements of hide painting – including geometric motifs organized into complex compositions within a rectangular frame – evolved into those used in parfleche design. Just as robes were used to wrap up possessions, so were parfleche.

Dating ParflecheKnowledge of early parfleche is limited due to the small number of surviving pieces. The great majority of parfleches in collections today was made and acquired after 1880 – when confinement of tribes on reservation land allowed for greater access to their material culture by outsiders. The earliest parfleche for which there is reasonably precise documentation is an extraordinary envelope collected by Prince Maximilian and illustrated by Karl Bodmer. Maximilian acquired the piece during the famous expedition up the Missouri in 1833-34 probably in the vicinity of Ft. Pierre (South Dakota), although its design indicates that it was painted by a Cheyenne woman.

Most parfleches were collected years after they were made, and the dates assigned to them are approximate, based on their style and the materials used to create them. Most of the parfleches made prior to the 1850s were created with native materials, and most produced after 1890 were painted with trade pigments on domestic cow hide. Most of the existing parfleches were made within the 40-year period between these dates, when any combination of materials was possible. Transitions in color use are the best indicators of time period, particularly when considered in relation to the use of buffalo hide which was seldom available after 1880. A basic color scheme of red and green outlined in black distinguishes nearly all parfleches produced in every region before 1850. Parfleches created between 1850 and 1880 are characterized by an extended range of colors, primarily the addition of blues and yellows, which could be a combination of native and trade pigments. Beginning in about 1870, a transition to the exclusive use of trade pigments accelerated so that by 1890, most parfleches were painted with commercial pigments using a more standardized set of colors.

Rawhide is the primary material used to make parfleche. In its finished state, it is 1/16" to 3/16" thick and is tough, durable, waterproof and unbreakable. It has a smooth, hard surface and although it is stiff when new, it can be folded without cracking and becomes more pliable with use. Parfleches could be made from the skins of any large animals, but whenever possible, the choice was determined by the maker because each kind of animal skin had distinct characteristics. Buffalo was the favored hide until the destruction of the great herds in the 1870s – the majority of surviving pieces created before 1880 are made of buffalo. Other early parfleches were made of elk, horse, moose and sometimes deer. When they were available, the hides of domestic cattle were used – although they were more difficult to work with and usually resulted in inferior rawhide. However, after the Plains tribes were confined to reservations, this was the most common material.

Native paint was obtained from a variety of sources. Most pigments are of mineral origin, but a significant number of vegetable and animal substances were used as well. Some pigments were common enough to be available in most areas, while others were far more difficult to obtain, often requiring paint gatherers to travel long distances. Some pigments were collected in a relatively pure state, but other types required some degree of processing. It is also important to recognize that among many tribes paint was regarded as a sacred substance. Its color functioned as a potent symbol in a variety of context and the pigment itself was believed to embody sacred powers. Ceremonies often attended its collection, and it was used in nearly all religious activities.

Red – the color often associated by Native Americans with life-force and sacred power – was the most extensively used color in hide-painting of all types. A wide variety of relatively pure pigments ranging from pale vermillion to a dark brownish violet were obtained from concentrated mineral deposits rich in iron oxides. Pigments were first prepared in dry, powdered form by grinding in a shallow stone mortar. Each color was then stored in its own small buckskin bag.

Commercial pigments introduced by European and American traders as early as the 18th century became increasingly popular once they were available. They virtually replaced most native paints by the last quarter of the 19th century. Trade paints came in the form of dry pigments packed in small wooden boxes or paper packets, and included vermillion, red lead, chrome yellow, Prussian blue, an ultramarine blue and chrome green. Whites and blacks were also available, but were never adopted for parfleche painting -- native pigment black was rarely, if ever, replaced by commercial trade pigments. The transition from the use of native pigments to the use of trade paint must have occurred over an extended period of time and was determined by the distribution and availability of trade goods, the attitudes of different tribal groups toward new materials, and the taste and preference of the individual artist. This last point results in difficulties attempting to date parfleches precisely on the basis of paint type alone.

The tools used for painting parfleche were made from bone, horn, wood, stone and willow or cottonwood sticks. A common type of bone brush was cut from the porous parts of large bones or joints. Buffalo bones were preferred because of their fine grain, and the edge of a shoulder blade or the end of a hip bone was especially favored. These were carved into flat, oblong shapes ranging from 2 ½" to 4" long, rounded at the corners and tapered to a sharp edge. Bones from domestic cattle and other large mammals were also used. The porous quality of the bone soaked up and held the paint and allowed it to flow smoothly when the tool was applied to the surface of the hide. One brush was used for each color. Green sticks of willow or cottonwood were also used for applying color. They were carved to a point and then chewed to produce a loose, stiff fibrous brush. Ends of the sticks could be used to make dots. Many painters also kept a bundle of peeled willow sticks used to lay out designs, and, by some artists, as a straight-edge for painting.

It is not possible to have a comprehensive explanation of meanings and symbolism of parfleche because so little information was recorded from the 19th century. What is known has been filtered through the inquires of a very few researchers working with a small number of tribes. The various ways that symbolism functioned within the great diversity of parfleche-making cultures is a complicated and sometimes controversial subject. Symbolism is tied to many other aspects of life -- such as language and religion -- and is therefore difficult to extract.

It is generally understood that no fixed, universally recognized symbolism existed in parfleche painting – rather, it varied greatly according to tribal tradition and individual preference. Among some tribes a single motif or a commonly used design evoked a specific set of associations for all members of the group. For example, Sioux women often utilized the diamond or designs which featured the diamond as a symbol of the turtle, which is intimately connected with women's sacred power. Other designs were revealed to women directly through their dreams, which was regarded as a communication from the spirit world.

The symbolism associated with parfleche design could also be highly personal. Although all the women of a given tribe used the same basic vocabulary of design elements and adhered to compositional structures defined by tribal style, each artist assigned her own meanings to her designs. The same motifs could therefore be used by numerous artists to express a variety of ideas: i.e., a diamond could be used to represent a person, an eye, the navel, a lake, a star, a turtle, a hill, life or abundance, or the interior of a tent. Color symbolism sometimes functioned in the same manner as design motifs in that it could be used according to the intentions and interpretation of the individual artist.

To understand the full relationship between image and idea in parfleche painting, it is important to recognize that not all artists were equally interested in symbolic content. Some women were undoubtedly far more sensitive and thoughtful in utilizing the spiritual traditions of their tribe and the expressive potential of their own ideas. Other women were completely engaged by the formal issues of the painting itself – focusing on the use of design elements rather than their meanings.

As tribes underwent dramatic cultural changes, older Indians associated the parfleche with the richness and integrity of the old way of life. Long after they were no longer needed as utilitarian objects, parfleches were highly valued as aesthetic forms and symbols of traditional culture. They continued to be made as gifts or decorations for ceremonial occasions.