Exploring American-Indian art: making a parfleche
by Donald Gruber
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The Plains People comprised indigenous groups that occupied the area between the Mississippi River and the
Rocky Mountains. These groups included the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Pawnee and the Sioux Nations.
These people were generally nomadic and had no permanent settlements. They followed the yearly migrations of
their main food sources--buffalo, deer and migratory fowl, like ducks and geese. They occupied traditional territories,
traveling and hunting within them.
Nature provided everything that the Plains People needed to live--from food and shelter to tools. The meat of buffalo
and deer was a source of food, while the hides provided rawhide and buckskins for teepee covers, blankets, clothes
and parfleches. The bones of these animals were made into the scrapers, needles and punches needed to work the
hides into useful items. Tough sinew was made from their tendons for stitching the heavy hides together.
Pigments for the paints and stains used in the art of the Plains People were also found in nature. Sources for
pigments were animals, plants and minerals. Pigments were prepared by grinding (minerals) or boiling (plants,
animals). The powder or rendered liquids were then mixed with water. Sometimes animal fat was used to thicken
paint. Stains were made from dyes that resulted from boiling certain plants.
Because of the nomadic lifestyle of the Plains People, their possessions had to be lightweight and portable. These
possessions included teepees, sleeping mats, blankets, clothing, cooking tools, moccasins and weapons. Constant
traveling inspired the Plains People to develop a form of luggage known as "parfleches." These were carrying bags
made of buckskin or rawhide and were used to carry clothing, food and all the little objects that the people
accumulated.
The Plains People also developed a distinctive art style and decorated everything from teepees to moccasins with
their designs. This art style is typified by geometric, angular or figurative designs. The colors of the designs were
generally green, red, yellow and black.
Studying one small part of the lives of the Plains People seemed to be an interesting way to introduce a multicultural
lesson about the indigenous people of North America to my seventh- and eighth-grade art students. The parfleche
was selected as a suitable article to study.
Parfleches were made in several styles, from folded wraps to envelope-like pouches, to accommodate a variety of
carried items. For our project, we created envelope-style parfleches, which would have been used to hold food on
hunting trips.
A discussion of the Plains People and of the materials used to make parfleches opened the lesson. With 150
students in six classes participating in the project, using actual buckskin or rawhide was out of the question. Since
our parfleches were for display and not actual use, a suitable substitute was brown butcher paper or brown paper
grocery bags. Raffia was substituted for sinew. For colors, water-based markers worked nicely.
Each student was provided with an 8" x 18" sheet of brown paper. To simulate the look of buckskin, the paper was
crumpled up tightly and then carefully opened and laid flat. Using an electric iron, the sheets were pressed flat.
Ironing does not remove the wrinkles, but causes the material to lay flat so that it can be folded and worked.
After flattening, each edge was folded over about 1/2 inch and glued. This reinforced the edges (real buckskin would
not have been folded at the edges). Then the sheet was folded up about 7 inches from the bottom. The remaining
portion formed the top flap of the parfleche and was folded down. The flap was reinforced by folding the comers over
to form a pointed tip, which was then folded down and glued in place.
Students were provided with a variety of visual sources for designs. Many chose to use the traditional Plains-style
designs as a source of inspiration for their own. On a separate sheet of paper, they developed their designs. Using
rulers and pencils, they laid out their designs on the front of their parfleches.
The designs were to cover the front of the parfleche, extending under the flap. The part of the design that was
covered by the flap was to be repeated on the flap so that the entire design would be visible with the parfleche
opened or closed. The pencil lines were then traced over by fine-tipped markers, and color was added. The color of
the material was to be included as one of the colors of their designs.
With the design completed, the students folded the parfleche together, leaving the flap up, and measured for holes
through which to string the raffia/sinew. The holes were laid out 1/2 inch in from each edge and 1/2 inch apart along
both sides.
Holes were punched with standard hole punches, but blunt tapestry needles could be used to punch more realistic
holes in the material. Two holes were then punched in the flap 1/2 inch from the end and about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Corresponding holes in the front of the parfleche were punched with a tapestry needle.
One strip of raffia about a foot long was slipped through the holes in the front of the parfleche from the inside, pulled
even and glued into place. This would form the tie that would hold the parfleche closed on those long treks. Using a
plastic tapestry needle as a substitute for a bone needle, the sides of the parfleche were stitched with raffia using
any number of stitching techniques.
Making a parfleche provided a small glimpse into the lives of these fascinating people. Additionally, this project gave
my students the opportunity to begin to understand and value the rich cultural diversity of their world.
MAKING A PARFLECHE
1. Fold edges of 8" x 18" wrinkled brown paper over about 1/2 inch and glue along the sides.
2. Fold ends over the same and glue in place. This will reinforce the edges of the paper.
3. Fold the bottom up to form the pouch portion of the parfleche (about 7 inches square). Do not glue.
4. Fold the flap down over the pouch. Fold the ends of the flap, forming a point, and glue. Then fold the point down
and glue in place.
After folding, lay the parfleche out flat and decorate. After decorating, hold the pouch portion together and punch
holes about every 1/2 inch along each side using a hole punch or a blunt tapestry needle. Do not punch holes in the
flap!
Stitch the sides of the pouch together using raffia strands. Leave some raffia dangling at the bottom for
embellishment. Add decorative knots. Add a tie to secure the flap by running a strand of raffia through two holes in
the front of the pouch that line up with two holes in the flap.
Don Gruber, Ed.D., teaches art at Clinton Junior High School in Clinton, Illinois, and is the great-grandson of a
Lakota Sioux.
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