Brain Tanning Buffalo Hides: page 4

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Various fleshing and thinning tools.

Contents
Introduction
Native American Use
Getting Ready to Tan
Fleshing, Thinning, Braining
Softening
Smoking & Conclusion

Fleshing

Native people had a variety of fleshing and scraping tools that were very highly valued and passed on from one generation to the next. Grinnel writes : "One of the fleshers was given me by the wife of White bull, When she was 65 or 70 years of age . Its first known owner was Magpie Woman, when she grew old she gave it to her daughter, Sun Woman, when Sun Woman grew old she gave it to her daughter, Hole in the Nose, but Hole in the Nose fell sick and died, and Sun Woman kept it, and when she died it came to Bull Wool Woman, the wife of Frog. From her it passed to her daughter White Bull's wife. Bull Woman had been dead nearly 50 years when the implement came into my hands, when it was perhaps 140 to 150 years old ". Sometimes the women would also cut a groove into the handle of their tool for each hide tanned. The other day, one of these implements, a completely intact elk horn handle flesher was auctioned off on Ebay for $1950!

I use one tool for fleshing and thinning which has a steel blade as sharp as I can get it. To flesh the skin, I hop onto the hide and start removing meat and fat. Beginning at the edges, I work my way towards the center. Sometimes I switch to a knife, especially in the hump area, that usually contains a lot of fat and meat The big fat chunks can be saved and rendered, for use in the tanning process or other projects like soap making or for fat lamp fuel. The fleshing is a lot of work and should be done before the hide starts drying out, best in one sitting but the hide can be covered overnight with wet towels and finished the next day. As the hide stretches, I go around and retighten it. It is worked the best when kept taut. This working step is about getting all meat and fat off, adhering bits off tissue and membrane will be cleared off in the following thinning process anyway. Also I will not be able to clean and thin (As described below) the hide nicely around the lacing holes, which is ok because the whole edge will be cut of later.

Thinning

As a buffalo is a mighty beast its hide is too thick in many places to be able to tan soft without prior thinning, this means removing skin by shaving it off. James W. Schulz writes about the Blackfeet : "standing upon the hide, smooth side up, the tanner, with an elk horn-handled, steel-bladed instrument the shape of a hoe, chipped it to about one half of its original thickness" A razor sharp blade is what I need now for thinning. When I hop on and off my hide to thin it, I try to keep it clean as dirt and sand will dull my blade faster. I try to shave the hide to an even thickness so I end up with a uniform product. The highlighted areas in the drawing need the most attention, as they are the thickest. The little areas under the arms have a very tight skin structure and will probably never turn out soft anyway.

Take your time and make sure that the skin is as thin as you can get it without compromising its integrity. You will save yourself a lot of work later as a thin skin is much easier to tan than one that is left too thick. In general, if you see hair roots shine through, do not go any deeper. This is easier to see when the skin is still wet. If you scrape it when it is already drying, you need to gauge it differently: I usually feel in from the sides with my arms and hands and try to determinate thickness, or try to pinch the skin if it is loose enough. I go over the whole hide during this process. It is easy to punch holes at this time, especially when the scraper dulls and you try to force it. After it has been thinned properly, I take the skin out of the frame, cut the edge off, put new holes in it and re-lace it. This way you get a nice clean and thin edge.

The scrapings removed from the hide during the thinning process have a couple of uses. They can be boiled down into hide glue. Or as Grinnel states : "Many women saved the scrapings from the hides they tanned and put them in parfleches (rawhide containers) against a time of scarcity. Then they were boiled and made a palatable food." Occasionally the whole green (un-tanned hide) would be eaten by the natives, cooked in a sort of pit bake according to Grinnell. (editor's note: what you get when you cook hides is gelatin --- the most easily assimilated natural protein --- which is why you're mother may have fed you Jell-O when you were sick as a kid).

Braining and Working the Hide in the Frame

Now it is time for the first braining. Brain-tanning is also referred to as "fat liquoring" and actually, a variety of tanning mixtures can be used. It seems that native people mainly used a mixture of all or some of the following: brains, bone marrow, liver, soapweed (according to Grinell) and grease. Today we can substitute ingredients if we wish and use eggs, lecithin, soap, castor oil etc. Probably every modern and old-time tanner has his own recipe he uses. All these substances are involved in complicated chemical reactions within the skin and help transform it from rawhide into leather. For details on skin structure and what chemical reactions occur during tanning, I refer to: "The Ancient Art of Tanning Buckskin" by S. Edholm and T. Wilder.

Whatever solution you use, the hide should be semi-dried - if the hide is somewhat moist, the solution is more easily absorbed, unlike a dry hide whose fiber structure is too tight to readily absorb the mixture. To start with, I use a fairly thin mixture and heat it up hot enough so I can just stand to put my hand in it. I apply it to small areas at a time so the solution does not cool down too fast on the skin. While the liquor is soaking in, I help it along by pushing and stretching the skin with a tool that has a blunt, rounded edge. (such as a paddle, an ax handle or a scraper with a dull blade). This work process will help force the solution deeper into the hide. Afterwards I add another thin coat, cover the hide with hot wet towels and leave it over night. The next day I use the blunt tool again and also walk on the skin barefoot to further move and stretch it. While the skin is drying, I can leisurely repeat the walking and pushing process. If I work inside, I use a heater and a fan to help speed up drying time. If you do not want to finish the tanning process in one setting, this would be the point to take a break.

Boller writes about the tribes of the upper Missouri : " it (the skin) is then left to dry, when it is taken down and put away until wanted, for during the busy hunting season it is as much as a squaw can do". According to many tanners, partially finished hides with at least one coating of brains dried into them will be easier to tan soft, as the enzymes of the tanning agent are at work during the storage time (editor's note: I have heard this said too, but don't buy it).