Parfleche is a hide -usually buffalo’s hide- dried by being stretched on a frame after the hair has been removed. Plains Indian headwomen, particularly from the Cheyenne tribe, use parfleche flat bags like the ones in the image to store and carry sacred medicines. The bags are about 40 x 35 cm. (15.7 x 13.7 in.). They are decorated with complex geometric motifs and symbols designed by the headwoman and executed by skillful women artists.