By: Michael Y. Ammons


How Indians Tanned Buckskin

Buchskin was tanned in several ways and by different substances
according to the tribe.  It is always well to keep in mind that
Indian tribes were different and that many of them had their own
style of doing things.

My information comes from Indians that I have known, and if
followed, a well-tanned buckskin will result.  It may be in order to
state right at the begining that Indian buckskin is NOT tanned at
all.  It is just worked soft.

A fresh skin is soaked in water for several days, usually from 3 to
6.  Sometimes the hair is cut off, or at least as much as possible,
and then the hide is soaked.  A lye made of wood ashes is used for
removing the hair from the pelts of elk & moose <not necessary on
deer> In some cases the ashes are sprinkled on the hair, rubbed in,
and then the moist hide is rolled up to await the loosening effect
of the lye.

The next step, and this is often a woman's step, -- is to take the
skin from the water and put it over a graining log.  This is a log
from which the bark has been removed.  <note: Cottonwood is the best
and should be cut during the winter.  It should be 8' long by 10 -
12" in diameter, seasoned for 6 months before removing bark and cut
to a finished length of 6'.  One end is on the ground and the other
end is proped up to waist hight.> It is stuck obliquely into the
ground so that its upper end is waist high.  Once draped over this
beam the particles of flesh, fat and sinew are scraped off.  An
implement specially designed for this purpose is used.  In olden
days it was a heavy handle of elk horn with an end like a small hoe.
 To this a flint scraper was tied, but in later times a steel blade
was substituted.  <note: I use a lawnmower blade sharpened on one
side to a 90-degree angle with the ends taped so it won't cut me>
When this had been done the skin was reversed and the hair removed
with a beaming tool.  This was once made from the cannon bone of a
deer, and it had two sharp edges.  When the stone and bone age
vanished, as the settlers came in, this tool was made of wood and a
long iron blade.  When the hair stuck, it was wet with moist ashes
which loosened it so that in a short time it could be removed.

Part 2

Most skin workers took the hair off first <which I do> and then
turned the hide over for the fleshing processm but whichever way
used, great care was taken not to work a thin spot in the skin.  A
good skin is of uniform thickness, though perhaps we should say
thinness, for soft skins were considered the best.

When the skin is thoroughly scraped, dehaired and clean, it is
washed in clear water, wrung out and then stretched on a wooden
frame, being laced to it by leather thongs or bark cords.  The skin
should be almost as tight as a drum head.

Now comes the trick of mixing brains with this tanning
business,--and the old Indian actually thought it took brains to do
it right.  A batter of brains is now rubbed into the skin until it
is thoroughly saturated.  If the skin has been worked and twisted
before "framed" the process does not take long.  <note: Each
animal's brain is just enough to tan the hide.>

Brain paste is prepared by splitting the skull, removing its
contents and then dissolving them in warm water.  Sometimes the
water is quite hot, but at all events the mass is crushed in the
fingers and worked into a fluid paste.  If brains are lacking, liver
paste is added; the two go well together.  When there is too much of
this solution the brains are mixed with moss and dried near a fire.
The moss is formed into cakes and kept for future use.  To make
ready for use the moss was wet and rubbed on the skin in the
ordinary way.

Once the brains were in the skin and the hide was removed from the
frame, it was soaked again and wrung out.  The wringing process is
IMPORTANT, and it consists of twisting the skin lenght wise and then
looping it about a tree only to twist it again by means of a stick
thrust through the loop.  When dry it is stretched out, pulled in
all directions thrown back in the water, wrung again, twisted again,
pulled again, only to be thrown in more water to have the process
repeated. <note: do this SEVERAL times!!>

The work applied to the skin is necessary for removing the cellular
filling, and to produce a clean sheet of pelt fiber.  When this is
achieved, and the skin is soft, pliable and white, it is seamed up
in the form of an irregular bag with crossed sticks thrust in the
mouth to keep it open.

Part 3

A smoke pit is now dug and in it a fire is built.  Rotten wood,
punk, cobs, chips of oak, beech or corn cobs are thrown in upon the
coals and a smudge is started.  The bag is now inverted over this
A cord holds the bottom of the bag to a limb or a pole.  Care must
now be taken that the fire underneath does NOT blaze, and that the
smoke fills the bag evenly.  To guard against an uneven flow of
smoke, ALL holes must be sewn up.  Inspection must be constant, and
when the pelt is of the right color, --yellow, tan or brown, it is
taken from the smudge and laid away, the smoked surface being folded
upon itself.  A few days of this sets the color and finishes or
"osawi 'ksua" as the Menomini called it.  This is the so-called
"Indian Tan", though more properly it is simply "Indian Worked", as
no tanning solution such as is used in leather making having been
employed.

Buckskin is warm and pleasant to wear, and it outlasts any cloth
ever made.  It is the ideal material in the wilderness for it does
not tear or allow thorns to puncture it.  Its one drawback is that
it wets easily, but even so it is soon dried and with a little
rubbing, is restored completely.


Carla,

Keep the tail with the hide <note: leave the hair on the tail> if
you want to make an authentic war shirt.  If you need patterns or
pictures to follow when making shirts or dresses, pick up the series
called The Book of Buckskinning.  There are 6 of these books and
they lay out how to make clothes from buckskin.

The only drawback to these instructions is that it takes SEVERAL
days to complete a hide, but if you follow them, you will have a
beautiful piece of buckskin that will look great as a shirt or
dress.

We have used these instructions for years and have yet to have a
skin come out bad.  The time from start to finish will vary from
person to person.  We usually tan several at a time and it takes
nearly a week & a half to do it right.

y