"Turning the hide of a deer into tanned buckskin is truly becoming a lost art."

Class Length: 3 days
Class Dates: October 24-26, 2008
Location: Western Reserve Farm Museum (Richfield, Ohio)
Price: $295 (Hides will be provided)
Materials Fee - $15
Register: Click Here

Have you ever wonder how Native peoples were able to tan hides for making clothes and accessories in the old days when they didn't have machines and chemicals to do it with?
 
Honoring the deer that was harvested was an essential part of the Native American lifestyle. The deer not only provided food for families but also supplied the material for clothing (buckskin), sewing materiel (sinew), mending medium (hide glue) and tools (leg bone hide scrapers). Nothing was wasted and everything was done without the use of modern technology.

Now you can learn the process that the natives used in this 3-Day Intensive Course. Tanning can be done in your own backyard with a minimal amount of equipment. We will take you step by step through what is commonly known as brain tanning.
At Midwest Native Skills we believe that hands-on experience is the only way to master a skill. With this in mind , we provide each student with a deer hide to tan. We are certain that at the end of the course you will be able to confidently repeat the tanning process.

While each individual step of the process is not difficult there is a certain amount of skill you need to learn to have your Buckskin come out successful

 "Softening a hide by stretching"

This 4 Day “Deer Skin to Buck Skin” Class covers:
  - Skinning and butchering a deer
  - Fleshing the hide on a beam
  - Dry scrapping & “racking” the hide
  - Wet scrapping will be demonstrated
  - Preparing and Braining the hide
  - Alternative to the use off brains
  - The little know “Pre-smoking” secrets
  - Breaking the hide
  - Smoking the hide for color
  - Cutting a pattern and sewing hides
  - Dying hides with natural materials
  - Demonstration of traditional hide tanning tools
  - Traditional tanning tools will be available for use
  - We will also discuss rawhide making and working with rawhide.

Since there is downtime between the steps at the beginning of the process, several "river cane" tools construction projects will be given in the evenings. Depending on what your interest is, you will be able to make blowguns, atlatl and darts, arrows, containers, cane knives and fishing spears.

Camping facilities at the will be available. All meals will be provided as well as a full deer hide for each student. The course price also includes all evening seminars and workshops Your instructors will be Robert Likas, Doug Meyer, Glen Monaghan and Tom Laskowski

Register: Click Here