Smoking the deer hide I tanned at Rabbitstick this year. This was the first hide I have tanned in over 13 years!
When I was 19 for some reason I came up with the idea that I wanted to learn how to tan hides- turn deer skins into buckskins. At the time, I was a vegetarian and had been for over 6 years. I was well educated in terms of schooling- I could read and write and do arithmetic. But I felt like I knew nothing about life skills. I did not know how to grow my own food, build my own shelter, or make my own clothing. I loved camping and being in nature- but I was an observer of nature, I was not participating with nature. This desire to be more connected with mother nature lead me to tanning, food production, and wild harvesting.
So, I got all the books I could find on tanning such as Jim Riggs’s Blue Mountain Buckskin, Matt Richard’s Deer Skins into Buckskins, Steven Denholm and Tamara Wilder’s Buckskin: The ancient art of braintanning. I read and researched and prepared myself.
Then I went to the nearest game processing center and asked the workers there if I could have some deer hides. At the time, I had no idea what the difference was between deer and elk, and I ended up with several elk hides. I held the antlers while the man who worked their chain sawed the heads so that I could also take the brains out (this is used for processing the hides).
2 years later- after lots of trial and error. I had successfully tanned several hides. I tanned deer, elk, goat and sheep. I had a lot of failed attempts, a lot of tears, a lot of blood, rotting skins, an infection on one figure that swelled up, and I lost my deposit on the rental due to deer hair in the yard. But, I did have a buckskin jacket (seen in photo) and skirt and my boyfriend at the time got a new pair of buckskin pants.
This year at Rabbitstick I had the privilege of learning about tanning from so many masters of the art. My 10-year-old son tanned his first hide! It is an honor and a privilege to be a keeper of this ancient knowledge. I have so much respect for all the tanners that have come before me, who through trial and error have perfected their art form and have shared the knowledge.
Thank you to the keepers of this ancient wisdom!