DCHP-1 Online

blanket ((n.))

• 1a n. a blanket made for or by Indians, formerly much used by them as a robe.

  See also: Indian blanket  

  • 1801  (1922)  Their clothing [includes] a blanket or dressed Buffaloe skin, which they wrap around their bodies, and tie around their waists.
  • 1837  (1952)  The blanket as an overall, is considered indispensable; it is used [by the Indian] on all occasions. . . .
  • 1873  (1904)  Lounging at the gate, or on the shore in front, one sees a half-breed in tasselated cap, or a group of Indians in blanket robes or dirty white capotes.

• 1b n. the traditional ways of the Indian, symbolized by the blanket as an article of clothing.

  • 1813  An Indian that lived in Oneida remote, / Was plagu'd by a Parson, to join his dear flock, / To throw off his blanket and put on a coat.
  • 1956  Me, with hardly any education, I'm stuck here. Am I supposed to go back to the blanket?
  • 1958  A few teachers (as in all other school systems also, of course) conclude that their efforts are wasted. Teachers in Indian schools often phrase this in variants of the "back to the blanket" theme.
  • 1959  . . . the younger generation of Indians . . . speaks contemptuously of the old Indian ways and sneers at returning "to the blanket."

• 1c n. on the blanket, see quote.

  • 1959  He made a flat motion with his two hands against the ground. "But I'm on the blanket." "What's that mean?" she asked. "It's what an Indian says when he's through fighting, running around, raising hell."

• 2 n. Hist. a unit of barter among traders and Indians in the Northwest.

  • 1859  (1925)  The blanket is the standard by which the value of all articles on the north-west coast is calculated . . . two blankets being equal to a gun. . . .
  • 1958  By 1854 another island mill, operated at Nanaimo by the Hudson's Bay Company, was paying the Indians one blanket for every eight big logs. . . .

• 3a n. Hist. a note issued as currency by the Hudson's Bay Co.

  • 1900  A hunter's wages consisted in those days of Hudson's Bay "blankets" or notes to the value of £3 sterling. . . .
  • 1923  Received also H.B.C. "blankets," old-time H.B.C. currency issued from York Factory on Hudson Bay. Denominations are one shilling, five shillings, and one pound.
  • 1952  (1965)  A blanket. Originally a Hudson's Bay Co. note used in paying wages, during late 19th century. . . .

• 3b n. See quotes.

  • 1900  Sometimes to-day one hears a dollar-bill described as a "blanket," a reference to the Hudson's Bay Company notes which formed the only currency in the North-West of those days and was so styled by the "old travellers" of the forties.
  • 1952  (1965)  A blanket. . . . in the West, a term for a dollar bill.

• 4 n. the largest size of beaver skin.

  See also: beaver blanket (def. 2)  

  • 1952  Some fine pelts were obtained, ranging up to 76 inches for "blanket" pelts which sold for $24 to $30 each. . . .
  • 1955  Beaver pelts, still on their round frames, are stacked high, and sorted into sizes, the largest called "blankets."
  • 1965  Any experienced beaver trapper has taken "blanket" male beaver whose otherwise perfect skin has been reduced in value . . . by cuts, scars and sores. . . .

• 5 n. N.S. a kind of pastry consisting of berries wrapped in a thick crust of dough.

  • 1894  The blueberries were ripening, and "huckleberry" parties, pies, puddings, dumplings, "blankets," "grunts," and sauces were in order.