DCHP-3

mitashes

[< Cdn F < Algonk.; see 1791 and 1947 quotes]
Obs.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

n. — pl.

a pair of coverings for the legs, usually made of dressed skins and often reaching from ankles to hips, where they are fastened to a belt, originally used by the Indians.

Quotations

1732
[And these people . . . do not realize that these Frenchmen to whom they trade their peltries give them goods, such as bonnets, capots, mistashes, etc., which are worth less than half those obtainable at this post.]
1763
My legs were covered with mitasses, a kind of hose, made . . . of scarlet cloth.
1791
[English Leggons, or stockings Chippeway Mitasse]
1832
The dress of the [Flathead] men consists solely of long leggings, called mitasses by the Canadians, which reach from the ancles to the hips, and are fastened by string to a leathern belt round the waist.
1931
The Old Boy & the hunter come in just before dinner, bringing the mitlas [sic] we had left with them to be made.
1947
Mitlashes: long leggings or gaiters often reaching to the thigh. Modern Montagnais word for "stockings."