DCHP-2

pemmican [< Algonk.: < Cree pimii fat, grease + -kān prepared] DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

• 1 n.

  beaten or pounded meat mixed with melted animal fat and, sometimes, berries, the preparation being sewn in a skin bag to form a hard, compact mass that would keep for a long time under almost any conditions.

  See also: beat meat  pounded meat  taureau (def. 3)  

  • Of great importance in the fur trade, pemmican was made from the flesh of buffalo (and at times from that of caribou, moose, etc.) and in preparations of varying quality and composition. Consequently, numerous compound terms were in use, as deer pemmican, berry pemmican; the qualifier being self-explanatory, few such terms have been entered here.

• 2 n. — Fur Trade, Hist.

  a rawhide bag containing 90 pounds of pemmican.

  See also: taureau (def. 2)  

• 2b n.

  a strong bag made of buffalo rawhide sewn hair side out, used as a container for 90 pounds of pemmican (def. 1).

  See also: pemmican bag  taureau (def. 1)