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There are many different ways to go about preparing a hide to tan. It seems that every tribe had its own way. Even among today's
tanners there is a wide range of preferences. I will not go into any great detail. It all boils down to what works for you
and your environment.
The main thing is to make sure the hide is worked as soon as possible to prevent it from rotting. A rancid hide is every
bit as disgusting as it is disappointing. If a hide cannot be worked right away it can be rolled up, bagged and put in a freezer.
Hides that have been scraped clean can be dried with or without salt and stored so long as they are protected from moisture,
bugs and animals that will chew on them.
Every hide must be scraped clean. A skin for buckskin or rawhide has to be dehaired. For rawhide, the skin is stretched on
a frame and rubbed with a blunt stick until it is dry. It is then ready to make containers, parfleche bags, bindings, snowshoe
lacing, decorations, lamp shades and even cooking vessels. Whatever you can think of that needs a stiff, lightweight material.
The hide can be allowed to dry in a frame and worked like rawhide, then soaked in water to make it pliable again before
the tanning process or it can be tanned still damp. Once it has been treated with brain or vegetable matter, the hide needs
to be worked to keep it soft. A brain tan will be fluffy and feel something like velvet. Vegetable tan will be coarser and
sort of stiff compared to brain.
Here are some definitions of the basic techniques. Click on any underlined heading for more details.
Fleshing- Using a scraping tool to remove all meat, fat and connective tissues from the skin.
De-hairing- Removing the hair or fur to make rawhide or leather.
Tanning- The application of a substance to preserve a hide and make it into a utilitarian material.
Smoking- Exposing a brain tanned hide to smoke increases its softness, gives it color and makes it more resistant to hardening
if it gets wet.
Breaking- Constantly stretching the hide to soften it.
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