Thanks for sharing this skill and knowledge about tanning a hide. I had no idea how much hard work was put into it. No wonder the Native American Indian women were doing it, while the men were hunting and fighting. In those days every part of the animal is used and every one has a job to do. So much has changed in the world we live in.
About to tan my first hide, a deer. It's winter, too cold outside and will be doing this in the house. My dog brought home a small deer head from the bush and thought I'd try extracting the brain with a stick and water that I'd read about. I put a stick into the hole where the spine attached and mushed it a bit then put 2 tablespoons of water in and mashed it up till it was a liquid, it poured out. I should have saved it for the deer hide... It was easy and will freeze the next batch. Thank you for keeping the Indigenous tanning process alive, it's so beautiful. And wonderful to see so many people interested in learning too.
I tan hides too almost same method. I soo thank you for keep keeping it alive. Evethough societies have changed so much ,we have to keep tradition alive somehow. With a balanced spirit and with respect to the animals.
That's why they obviously make it in a mass production. Like... They do 3 moose leather at the same time or even more And maybe it's splitted up to groups. Ppl for the leather, ppl that dry the meat, and people that work the bone. And they can help each other In one day, they have lots of works. Unlike this in video that they only do one leather drying for a day
I’ve tanned a great many hides and the method you demonstrate is almost exactly how I learned. I am intrigued at the use of Flour, the next Sheep Skin I Tan I’m going to use your method. One thing I do differently is I completely obliterate the brain before I boil it. Very nice demonstration.
Whoever thumbed down should have run a different search. Thank you VERY much for the knowledge you've given. Thanks to you I NOW know an alternative to tumbling and chemical tanning!
I usually make rawhide from most of my hides. I get the leather made by a Doukhobor colony in Alberta. They do an all natural tan and prefer if you send the brain along when shipping. A deer hide is a lot of work. I can't imagine doing a moose at home. This is just great and got you a sub.I use pork shoulder blades for my scrapers. They work great. The hide here is just beautiful. It will make many wonderful things. Thanks soooo much. I really enjoyed this.
Hello again, I had to have a leg amputated so I can only help on some of the process but I have always used this video as a how to guide for the newbies as you do such a nice job of explaining the 13 steps. I was born on a trapline in Northern Saskatchewan 80 miles north east of Waskiseuw so this method is one my grandparents would use. Today I live in north central BC and still make a few square feet of rawhide from a friends cattle butchering. I sooooo miss the smells and feel of a properly tanned hide. They are worth a small fortune here that I am happy to pay for. No acid tanned leather can come close to the wonderful texture of a brain tanned hide. Thanks again my friends. Take care now in these trying times eh !
Impressive! And no doubt others have mentioned how labor intensive, I’m glad to know this knowledge exists. It’s a good lesson to remember where we came from
Thank you, I really enjoyed watching your traditional tanning methods. I am a Ngarluma man all the way from Karratha, Western Australia - Aboriginal people of Australia.
Thank you for sharing, esp. as my granddaughter is woodland Cree. As a newcomer I'm trying to learn some traditional knowledge, so I can share in her education, and respect the other grandparents traditions.
I have watched both of the videos from your college and so appreciate learning about all the work that goes into the process. It made me wistful for the time I lived in northern and western Canada!
I was very glad to see this video on the net, it has great detail on each step. But I think that to gain a good understanding of each step, I would need to do each step a few times. Your hide looked very nice and even and I'm sure that comes from years of working hides. Thank you for walking us through each step you gave great detail.
Yes, you're right. Our instructors have been doing this work a long time. Here is a video of one of the original instructors at the college: ua-cam.com/video/SWUCC00yGd8/v-deo.html
There’s a second message in this video. Different ethnicities Working together to finish a project is amazing. It just comes to show no matter what color or size you are if you all work together you can do anything you set your mind to! This is really inspiring! Thanks for sharing this very informative video.
Appreciate,the knowledge, it is extremely hard work, as I have taken several bears in my life,and if I have he time my taxidermy guy lets me hang around , I am disabled ,I would like too help the fleshing of the hide, like I mentioned, this is a hard job to do and appreciate,
That was a lot of fun to watch.Thank you for putting it together. It looks like everyone had a good time. I learned that I've been baiting my minnow traps with Indian glue. That's going to make me sound more woodsmanlike sometime later on. Thanks.
Amazing culture ❤, love from Morocco also great techniques. I wish i can participate in some workshop like this in the future, inshaeAllah, long life to the indigenous people of America i dont know why but i feel special connection to you guys since i was a kid guess i am just a fan of the culture 😅.
So glad I found this as I failed on my first attempt at a large cow hide (Usually only work with white tail deer on fleshing beams) This has peaked my interest for frame style tooling, since you included many more steps than I typically would think of doing (Usually flesh/soak/scrape/brain/smoke but seeing your in depth extension of these steps will lead me to incorporate this into my normal white tail workings as well! I always just stretch dry them over my knee near the wood stove in winter, but I believe seeing this simple video will help me to turn out softer hides, as well as going at a cow hide again! Thanks! Do you have any shared information for the public covering your scraping tools and specs?
Sorry for the late reply! Here is our Tanning Tools video: ua-cam.com/video/HR-zbr215po/v-deo.html There is a playlist on our account titled Hide Tanning that has many videos you can learn from. Good luck with your tanning!
Hi, Veronica! We offer one of the only courses in Canada that teaches this. Learn more here: www.portagecollege.ca/Programs/Native-Arts-and-Culture/Aboriginal-Art-Certificate
Portage College thanks for sharing . Of course I live all the way down at the end of Alabama ! But who knows when I complete my Bus and get my knee replacement surgery done I might drive up there . I’ve always wanted to come up there !
It's good that you are teaching this and I know that brain matter is used as a tannin solution but what about pine bark or other things for the process? Still I appreciate what you are teaching, thank you very much for the video. Let's see more!
@@michami135 I agree. The title of the video is, "Hide Tanning The Traditional 13 Steps," not, "Hide Tanning, The Modernized Version of the Traditional 13 Steps, Using Whatever We Happen to Have Available in a Modern Setting, Pretending to be Traditional."
I assume shavings from any simple bar laundry soap would work for braining the hide. On the Downy water for soaking: is there a good alternative? Perhaps something simpler/unscented/natural?
Its amazing how the brain of every animal is just big enough to tan the hide. Amazing video. Thanks for posting. I realize that due to course constraints and also modern regulations its impossible to be 100% traditional but what would have been used instead of downey?
Good morning, Portage College! Love both the new and old Hide tanning videos. I'm curious to know how I'd go about making my own flesher. I'll be brain tanning my first hide this weekend, and it's the one tool I haven't got. Alternative suggestions are also welcome. Thank you!
ua-cam.com/video/UtM5apQCoL4/v-deo.html We don't have a step by step video , but we do have a quick over video of how our staff member made one. Hopefully that helps. You can use a moose or deer leg bone to make a flesher and cut the bone to size or a piece of birch you then add a piece of metal, or crave teeth into the bone using a hand saw. With the birch and metal plate you would attach it with sinew / hide or whatever other materials you can find.
Thanks for this. Plus be good to know what type of knots you use to tie it up etc and also the name of the tools used. Is this the same method for smaller hides like rabbits?
If I am not mistaken, aren't there many cultures who typically de-fleshed the hide, then treated the de-fleshed side with a different mixture and once it dries then they would call it complete? I have seen many pelt coats with fur still on, especially Moose because of the heat retention properties. Do you guys teach or talk about those techniques by any chance?
Very informative video! Thank you. I’m curious about two things: is there a version of this where you leave the fur on like a carpet or fur coat? And two: at the end of this video you were left with a pillowcase shaped hide. Would you undo the stitching to make it back to being a large flat piece or is there an application for this with the stitching left on? Sorry for the silly questions! Thanks again!
I noticed in a few of these videos that it's predominantly women doing the tanning. Was this traditionally something the women in the village would do or was it a shared communal job?
if your leaving the hair on you wouldn’t soak the hide for as ong or the hair will slip. Do step 2,3,4 then skip scraping and thinning and go to braining, braining is different for leaving the hair on. You can still rub it in the flesh side but will also need to make enough solution to fully submerge the hide in so the brain penetrates through the whole hide. so it will soften.
thinning process must be done on hairside of hide?Cant be done on flesh side?if so is it because of the oil from fleshside making it harder for scraper to thin?
Great video, I once worked with a guy Billy Fivecoats and his brother Two Feathers( Not Sure) if that was his TRUE name, but they did a similar tanning. It is labor intensive, took them a couple weeks to do the same thing you guys did so quickly. Also their's didn't come out looking as nice as your's . THANKS.
The first smoking. Why only one side is smoked, why not both? And which side is smoked? What is that sunlight-shaped (?) soap in brain solution, and what are "oils" used, and what amount?
Thanks for sharing this skill and knowledge about tanning a hide. I had no idea how much hard work was put into it. No wonder the Native American Indian women were doing it, while the men were hunting and fighting. In those days every part of the animal is used and every one has a job to do. So much has changed in the world we live in.
About to tan my first hide, a deer. It's winter, too cold outside and will be doing this in the house.
My dog brought home a small deer head from the bush and thought I'd try extracting the brain with a stick and water that I'd read about. I put a stick into the hole where the spine attached and mushed it a bit then put 2 tablespoons of water in and mashed it up till it was a liquid, it poured out. I should have saved it for the deer hide... It was easy and will freeze the next batch.
Thank you for keeping the Indigenous tanning process alive, it's so beautiful. And wonderful to see so many people interested in learning too.
It’s good to see these traditions are kept alive along with hunting , trapping and fishing.
I tan hides too almost same method. I soo thank you for keep keeping it alive. Evethough societies have changed so much ,we have to keep tradition alive somehow. With a balanced spirit and with respect to the animals.
Human lives matter.
A billion times more than a rat. Or cow. Or bear. Or whatever.
A lot of time on 1 hide, imagine the work our
ancestors did to clothe
their family !
That's why they obviously make it in a mass production. Like... They do 3 moose leather at the same time or even more
And maybe it's splitted up to groups. Ppl for the leather, ppl that dry the meat, and people that work the bone. And they can help each other
In one day, they have lots of works. Unlike this in video that they only do one leather drying for a day
Holy cow! Who knew it was so much work and such an extensive process
Great video, You got to appreciate the knowledge of the old timers.
Thanks a lot for sharing. What a beautiful tradition and how nice is watching all of you working together, abs keeping your ancestral wisdom alive
I’ve tanned a great many hides and the method you demonstrate is almost exactly how I learned. I am intrigued at the use of Flour, the next Sheep Skin I Tan I’m going to use your method. One thing I do differently is I completely obliterate the brain before I boil it. Very nice demonstration.
Whoever thumbed down should have run a different search. Thank you VERY much for the knowledge you've given. Thanks to you I NOW know an alternative to tumbling and chemical tanning!
I usually make rawhide from most of my hides. I get the leather made by a Doukhobor colony in Alberta. They do an all natural tan and prefer if you send the brain along when shipping. A deer hide is a lot of work. I can't imagine doing a moose at home. This is just great and got you a sub.I use pork shoulder blades for my scrapers. They work great. The hide here is just beautiful. It will make many wonderful things. Thanks soooo much. I really enjoyed this.
Tomoko's Enterprize
Could you please tell me where this place is in Alberta that you send your hides to get tanned is?
Thank you 🙏🏻
Hello again, I had to have a leg amputated so I can only help on some of the process but I have always used this video as a how to guide for the newbies as you do such a nice job of explaining the 13 steps. I was born on a trapline in Northern Saskatchewan 80 miles north east of Waskiseuw so this method is one my grandparents would use. Today I live in north central BC and still make a few square feet of rawhide from a friends cattle butchering. I sooooo miss the smells and feel of a properly tanned hide. They are worth a small fortune here that I am happy to pay for. No acid tanned leather can come close to the wonderful texture of a brain tanned hide. Thanks again my friends. Take care now in these trying times eh !
What a great video on how it was done down through the ages... a skill that has survived and well explained by the narrator..!! 👍👍👍👍
Impressive! And no doubt others have mentioned how labor intensive, I’m glad to know this knowledge exists. It’s a good lesson to remember where we came from
Thank you, thank you so much for sharing this information with us. These are the treasures that the internet should work to preserve.
Amazing! When I live out in the woods I will use this method! Thanks a billion!
Thank you for taking the time to teach this art form . The narration is easy to understand. Many blessings, thank you
Thank you, I really enjoyed watching your traditional tanning methods. I am a Ngarluma man all the way from Karratha, Western Australia - Aboriginal people of Australia.
God bless you
Thank you for sharing, esp. as my granddaughter is woodland Cree. As a newcomer I'm trying to learn some traditional knowledge, so I can share in her education, and respect the other grandparents traditions.
I have watched both of the videos from your college and so appreciate learning about all the work that goes into the process. It made me wistful for the time I lived in northern and western Canada!
I was very glad to see this video on the net, it has great detail on each step. But I think that to gain a good understanding of each step, I would need to do each step a few times. Your hide looked very nice and even and I'm sure that comes from years of working hides. Thank you for walking us through each step you gave great detail.
Yes, you're right. Our instructors have been doing this work a long time. Here is a video of one of the original instructors at the college: ua-cam.com/video/SWUCC00yGd8/v-deo.html
I wish I could see this in person to see exactly what is done. Thanks for sharing
Wow this is incredible 😮 I didn't realise how much work goes into this.
great vid. a joy to watch-old school is the best school.thanks so much
There’s a second message in this video. Different ethnicities Working together to finish a project is amazing. It just comes to show no matter what color or size you are if you all work together you can do anything you set your mind to! This is really inspiring! Thanks for sharing this very informative video.
Matthew M because not everyone believes that, unfortunately.
Lots of hard work and skill thanks for sharing.
This is flippin awesome!!
To see how much effort putting into this, I would be so proud about wearing a wristband from the thrown away pieces
Thankyou so much for your thoughtful and patient video
Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
I have never seen brain solutions applied to the grain side. Very interesting to see that approach to patching holes as well.
Beautiful I wish I hat some to make a jacket because I am German and we love it very much. Good job😊😊😊
Very interesting. Sure is a lot of work. I have new found respect for folks tanning their own hides.
That is one hella multi-step complicated process. Much respect.
Thank you so much. this is such a great video . Hard work. I love it.
Appreciate,the knowledge, it is extremely hard work, as I have taken several bears in my life,and if I have he time my taxidermy guy lets me hang around , I am disabled ,I would like too help the fleshing of the hide, like I mentioned, this is a hard job to do and appreciate,
Thank-you so much for your generosity, sharing this knowledge with everyone.
This sure makes you appriciate the old timers, and how they figured out how to do this. Nice video.
This was great! Thank you!!
Ai, Kapai to mahi. very good work. great instructions. i am subscribed thankyou.
That was a lot of fun to watch.Thank you for putting it together. It looks like everyone had a good time. I learned that I've been baiting my minnow traps with Indian glue. That's going to make me sound more woodsmanlike sometime later on. Thanks.
Thanks for your lesson am planning to open up a college too in Namibia 🇳🇦.
Thanks for posting this video
Great video. Incredible instruction!
Amazing. This is hard work
Thank you! This is fascinating! I wonder how it’s done leaving the fur on?
Powerful knowledge and amazing video thank you for sharing with us.
Thanks for showing us this 🖤
Loved the video!
Very informative!
That was awesome thanks very good info.
Amazing culture ❤, love from Morocco also great techniques. I wish i can participate in some workshop like this in the future, inshaeAllah, long life to the indigenous people of America i dont know why but i feel special connection to you guys since i was a kid guess i am just a fan of the culture 😅.
Great video ! Thank you ❤️
Thank u for sharing this. Very informative.
Im exhausted just watching this
Thankyou though for sharing and keeping the traditional method known. 👍
Very hard job. Respect.
Lot of work. Very nice.
very informative, loved how youu explind everything , made it so easy to understand. Do you have a booklet for sale. Would love to buy one.
nice clear video.
So much work wow and its so worth it Beautiful buckskin Leather!
Long process but it proved to be well worth all the effort put into the hide.
So glad I found this as I failed on my first attempt at a large cow hide (Usually only work with white tail deer on fleshing beams)
This has peaked my interest for frame style tooling, since you included many more steps than I typically would think of doing (Usually flesh/soak/scrape/brain/smoke but seeing your in depth extension of these steps will lead me to incorporate this into my normal white tail workings as well!
I always just stretch dry them over my knee near the wood stove in winter, but I believe seeing this simple video will help me to turn out softer hides, as well as going at a cow hide again! Thanks!
Do you have any shared information for the public covering your scraping tools and specs?
Sorry for the late reply! Here is our Tanning Tools video: ua-cam.com/video/HR-zbr215po/v-deo.html
There is a playlist on our account titled Hide Tanning that has many videos you can learn from. Good luck with your tanning!
Wow ! I wish I could come and learn how to do this ! How could I learn this what would I have to do ? And thank you for sharing your video !
Hi, Veronica! We offer one of the only courses in Canada that teaches this. Learn more here: www.portagecollege.ca/Programs/Native-Arts-and-Culture/Aboriginal-Art-Certificate
Portage College thanks for sharing . Of course I live all the way down at the end of Alabama ! But who knows when I complete my Bus and get my knee replacement surgery done I might drive up there . I’ve always wanted to come up there !
Very cool. that smoking method to get that color is amazing.
❤❤❤Beautiful video sister thank ✨👍💯
Interesting....want to participate next time with your group
you can find information on the program by visiting portagecollege.ca
Very informative. Thank you. Sharing!
Well that was easy! What a process. Makes me wonder how many generations it took to get to the method we see here.
Thank you for sharing
great video i watched it in class and now its helping with homework from me being a little native american girl i want to try things like this😁❤
I have always wondered but since you shared this magnificent video, I am now able to have a better understanding. Thank you very much.
Great video. Thanks for sharing this art. Can this also be done with hair on?
That gives you a lot of appreciation for the native Americans,
why? This isn't unique. Humans all over the world have identical processes for curing hides.
CircumcisionIsChildAbuse ah go save some foreskins you hater
Interesting excellent video, I wonder how it was done before the availability of plastic and would it not be a way to do it same way today.
before plastic the hide would of been smoked inside of another tipi
Does it not bother you to have to use so much plastic - could you not reduce the usage somehow.
Downy? How was it done before the 1960's? What would have been the natural fabric softner?
Thanks for sharing your method!
Our pleasure :) Thanks for watching and feel free to share!
SkillCult pig hide
It's good that you are teaching this and I know that brain matter is used as a tannin solution but what about pine bark or other things for the process? Still I appreciate what you are teaching, thank you very much for the video. Let's see more!
What oil do you add to the brain solution? Im going to attempt a deer this weekend and am so excited
So they traditionally used plastic covering and downey?
A lot of the techniques in this video are modernized. I notice a lot of differences from the survival techniques using stone tools.
@@michami135 I agree. The title of the video is, "Hide Tanning The Traditional 13 Steps," not, "Hide Tanning, The Modernized Version of the Traditional 13 Steps, Using Whatever We Happen to Have Available in a Modern Setting, Pretending to be Traditional."
thanks, that was cool
Love the way you broke the process down step by step....your traditions are amazing...thank you for sharing
Thanks! Old ways are best.
I assume shavings from any simple bar laundry soap would work for braining the hide. On the Downy water for soaking: is there a good alternative? Perhaps something simpler/unscented/natural?
Its amazing how the brain of every animal is just big enough to tan the hide.
Amazing video. Thanks for posting.
I realize that due to course constraints and also modern regulations its impossible to be 100% traditional but what would have been used instead of downey?
Cool video, tradition since 1883.
Culture is strong ❤️
Good morning, Portage College! Love both the new and old Hide tanning videos. I'm curious to know how I'd go about making my own flesher. I'll be brain tanning my first hide this weekend, and it's the one tool I haven't got. Alternative suggestions are also welcome. Thank you!
ua-cam.com/video/UtM5apQCoL4/v-deo.html
We don't have a step by step video , but we do have a quick over video of how our staff member made one. Hopefully that helps. You can use a moose or deer leg bone to make a flesher and cut the bone to size or a piece of birch you then add a piece of metal, or crave teeth into the bone using a hand saw. With the birch and metal plate you would attach it with sinew / hide or whatever other materials you can find.
Thanks for this. Plus be good to know what type of knots you use to tie it up etc and also the name of the tools used. Is this the same method for smaller hides like rabbits?
Loved watching this. How would you continue if you wanna leave the hide on for use of a winter blanket? Would you skip the scraping step?
Awesome thanks!
Pretty cool
If I am not mistaken, aren't there many cultures who typically de-fleshed the hide, then treated the de-fleshed side with a different mixture and once it dries then they would call it complete? I have seen many pelt coats with fur still on, especially Moose because of the heat retention properties. Do you guys teach or talk about those techniques by any chance?
great video! i wish i could attend your collage! wanted to learn skills like this for a long time but no one here does that sort of thing ;-(
Very informative video! Thank you. I’m curious about two things: is there a version of this where you leave the fur on like a carpet or fur coat? And two: at the end of this video you were left with a pillowcase shaped hide. Would you undo the stitching to make it back to being a large flat piece or is there an application for this with the stitching left on? Sorry for the silly questions! Thanks again!
I love this
I noticed in a few of these videos that it's predominantly women doing the tanning. Was this traditionally something the women in the village would do or was it a shared communal job?
What would be the historical replacement for the plastic sheets?
Other completed hides could of been used to help with the drying process,
Amazing video!!! So if you wanted the hair on the hide, do you simply not remove it, or is there a separate process for that? Thanks!
if your leaving the hair on you wouldn’t soak the hide for as ong or the hair will slip.
Do step 2,3,4 then skip scraping and thinning and go to braining, braining is different for leaving the hair on. You can still rub it in the flesh side but will also need to make enough solution to fully submerge the hide in so the brain penetrates through the whole hide. so it will soften.
After folding you smoke it with brain tan still on? I used eggs and soap and wondering if I should wash before first smoke
thinning process must be done on hairside of hide?Cant be done on flesh side?if so is it because of the oil from fleshside making it harder for scraper to thin?
Before there was soap and butter ? What would the natives use?
Great video, I once worked with a guy Billy Fivecoats and his brother Two Feathers( Not Sure) if that was his TRUE name, but they did a similar tanning. It is labor intensive, took them a couple weeks to do the same thing you guys did so quickly. Also their's didn't come out looking as nice as your's . THANKS.
The first smoking. Why only one side is smoked, why not both? And which side is smoked? What is that sunlight-shaped (?) soap in brain solution, and what are "oils" used, and what amount?