View 1: Bag

According to the Mootookakio’ssin webpage, museum records state that this particular Parfleche bag came from a man named Weasel Fat from the Kainai tribe; part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The word giving the bag its name originated from the French during the fur trade with “Parer” meaning “to defend/turn away”, and “fleche” meaning “arrow”. With these two meanings together the word Parfleche refers to “shields made out of rawhide”, according to the Mootookakio’ssin webpage. 

Parfleche is typically made of one folded piece of rawhide made to protect whatever it’s carrying from the elements and safe for traveling while attached to a horse’s saddle. There are also other types of structures of Parfleche like rectangular boxes and cylinders.