Brain tanning and smoking a deer hide - Sterling Final

While taking a class on weaving with plants at a local park, I met a naturalist named Dino. He is Native Hawaiian and is very knowledgeable about native culture and traditional skills. He can make rope out of plants, start fires with sticks, weave baskets, identify wild edible plant species, make his own shoes, tan leather, and tons of other stuff. I have always wanted to learn how to tan deer hides and he was generous enough to teach me the process. From start to finish it took three full days. First, we soaked the hide for a week and then scraped off the membrane from each side. Then, we wrung it out and applied cooked and mashed pork brains to both sides. This solution softens the fibers of the hide and makes it pliable. After the brains soak into the hide overnight, the hide has to be stretched and softened for several hours. The last step, as pictured above, involves smoking the hide over a tin of smoldering wood. The hide must be smoked for several hours on each side and the smoking preserves the hide and prevents it from stiffening when exposed to water. Dino allowed me to keep a portion of the hide that I plan to stitch into a small bag.

I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Dino. The process of tanning a deer hide is way more labor intensive and complicated than I could have imagined but I'm glad to have the knowledge and be able to teach the process to someone else in the future. I feel as though it is important that skills like the ones that Dino knows and teaches continue to be passed from person to person. Going forward, I hope to dedicate myself to gaining and sharing more skills that connect people with the natural world.