Tanning Animal Hides
  Native people, especially those living in extremely cold climates, had to deal with the neccesity of making clothes and staying warm. Before mass produced woven cloth and modern synthetics became widely available, people had to rely on animal skins and furs for all of their fabric needs from clothes and blankets to bags and shoes.

  These skins needed to be processed and tanned properly in order to soften and preserve them. There are many varied tanning methods from around the world but, the most popular is the brain-tanning technique. If you are interested in learning how to tan leather naturally for long term survival purposes or just as a hobby these lessons can show you all you need to know to make supple leather.

Buckskin
Activity: I will show you how to tan a fresh, raw deer hide into soft buckskin (suede) by hand, using all natural materials. You will learn -fleshing, racking, dry scraping, braining and smoking. With additional attention to tool construction. You walk away with a finished hide and all the techniques you need to tan one on your own.

Ages: 16 & up
Time: 2 - 4 Days
Difficulty: High
Location: Outdoor areas
Physical labor: High

Leatherwork and Sewing
Activity: This is a great introduction to working with leather and is also good if you are not yet ready to do hide tanning from scratch. We will work with pre tanned leather to make basic bags and pouches of your choice. You will learn -lay out and cutting -various seems and stitches suited for leather -cutting lacing and fringe.

Ages: 10 & up
Time: 1/2 -1 Day
Difficulty: Low
Location: Any where
Physical labor: Low but detail oriented