DCHP-1 Online

shaganappi ((n.)) [< Algonk.;cf. Woods Cree pishaganabii < pishagan what is flayed + abii cord] Earlier spellings are exceptionally varied for this widely used term.

• 1 n. a thong of rawhide.

  See also: babiche (def. 1)  Northwest iron  

  • 1743  (1949)  [Shag, a nap, pee or a string of Leather tauk' a miss.]
  • 1749  These Bales are . . . tied up with Shackanappe in a close compact Manner.
  • 1825  (1926)  Shaganapie pack Cords lb 1d.
  • 1872  (1873)  The triangular shaped load is bound in one by folds of shaganappi twisted firmly but without a knot, after a regular fashion called the "diamond hitch."
  • 1938  I take three poles, put them together, and tie them at one end with shaganappi.
  • 1956  The packsaddle became an important part of the equipment with plenty of shaganappi for diamond hitches and knots.

• 2 n. rawhide.

  • 1880  One outfit consisted of a small pack-saddle, shaped something like a diminutive saw-horse . . . and girt with a broad belt of shaganappi.
  • 1909  To add to its oddity, the shafts are heavy, straight beams, between which is harnessed an ox, the harness of rawhide (shaga-nappi) without buckles.
  • 1963  The harness, made of raw buffalo-hide, the "shaganappi" of the North-west, served good purpose while it was kept dry, but when wet the story was quite different.

• 3 n. originally, a wild pony, a mustang; later generalized in the West as a name for any horse, often with a derogatory or contemptuous connotation.

  See also: cayuse ((n.))  shaganappi pony  

  • 1886  [The term "shaganappi" came to be applied by the new settlers to everything in connection with a Red River outfit.]
  • 1889  These native quadrupeds, in the Far West, are called cayeuses, or shagganappis.
  • 1930  The half-breed whipped up his shaganappies and whirled away down the lake.
  • 1956  Farm horses or shaganappies, the searing cold and outside camps were too much for them.