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Parfleche Silk Scarf

  • $65.00
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  1. Home
  2. Scarves & Bags
  3. Parfleche Silk Scarf

Parfleche Silk Scarf

  • $65.00

"This design pays tribute to the Indigenous people of western North America, especially the Plains women who have traditionally been the makers and painters of our beautiful parfleche designs," shares Piikani/Blackfeet artist John Isaiah Pepion of his Parfleche Silk Scarf.

John has taken the geometric designs traditional to parfleche—decorated rawhide containers used by Plains tribes—and combined them with contemporary colors for a beautifully bold accessory. The soft orange is Pantone's Color of the Year 2024 and accented in pastel purple for a playful palette, while the silk twill fabric is an elegant touch that stays cool against your skin.

"Parfleshes are containers of folded or sewn rawhide with designs of symbolic meanings," shares John. "Traditionally, they are decorated by incising or painted with earth pigment. For centuries, they were almost exclusively made and decorated by women artists of Plains tribes; today the art of parfleche flourishes as both women and men of many tribal nations continue to create them."

A note on the fabric: these silk scarves are made from 100% silk twill. Silk is the fiber; twill is the weave structure: the twill weave makes the fabric more durable than plain weave silk, and a bit less slippery than some silk scarves. Our silk twill scarves still have the same lightness and coolness you expect from silk, with a luxurious and elegant drape.

  • 100% silk twill 
  • 35" x 35"/ 88.9cm x 88.9cm
  • Designed by John Pepion (Piikani/Blackfeet)
  • Modeled by Francesca Robello (Karuk)
  • Dry clean only
  • Imported

Thank you for supporting Inspired Natives®, not "Native-inspired."

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      about the artist

      My name is John Isaiah Pepion, and I am a Plains Indian graphic artist from the Piikani Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy. I'm based out of the Blackfeet reservation in north-central Montana, where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains. I am best known for my ledger art, which is an art tradition that developed in Plains tribes: as the buffalo hide we traditionally used for painting became scarce, Plains people were forced to adapt by making artwork on ledger paper from accounting books. I come from a family of artists, and ledger art has been in my family for hundreds of years.

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