![]() This was a big animal, so we got 16 foot 2-by-4s and built a square to stretch the hide out in. We decided to dry scrape the hide, which means building a rack. Maybe it was a silly gesture, but a part of me felt responsible for those two calves and the realities of our effects on other creatures is something I try to lean into instead of turning away. We weren’t quite sure what to do once we got the two perfectly formed little buffalo home, so we took them to the western end of the school, towards the setting sun and the land of the buffalo and buried them in a patch of lamb’s quarter. We dolefully loaded the 55-gallon barrel holding the bloody pelt along with the two unborn buffalo whom we wanted to honor. When we picked up the hide at the butcher’s, we found out that the sow had been almost full-term with two calves. We sent out an alert on the Facebook page letting our students and neighbors know that we would be trading brain-soaked, 25-degree-Fahrenheit, stooped-over labor for … well, apple cider. Brain-tanning a big deer can take 3 to 4 days for one person, so we definitely wanted help. The feeling was exactly the same waiting for the call from the farmer’s market that we would be getting a hide. Buffalo skins provided homes, clothes and food for the Lakota and other people of the American interior.Īs a kid, I remember traveling across the country with a plastic buffalo super glued to the dash board, anxiously peering out the window of the Dodge Caravan, waiting for my first glance of a real live buffalo. Many American natives revered the buffalo and tanned its hide in a highly ritualistic manner. Today, modern tanneries use awful chemicals like chromium sulfate, but primitive humans used any source of tannins whether from lecithin in brains, or from certain barks or vegetables. Either way, we spent months calling, negotiating, anticipating and mostly, waiting.Īmerican Natives weren’t the only early people to practice brain-tanning it was a wide-spread practice whereby the brain of the animal provides the lecithin needed to naturally tan the hide. I’ve brain-tanned my fair share of deer, squirrels, groundhogs, foxes and sundry other creatures unfortunate enough to cross Route 9 near our farm and school in West Virginia but the farmers market seemed nervous about the prospect of giving us the skin when they slaughtered the next in their herd. Home Organization News, Blog, & Articles.Energy Efficiency News, Blog, & Articles.And if you have any other questions, please contact one of the rangers. I'd like to thank you for visiting Fort Union. And in turn, Fort Union earned valuable profit from the sale of the robes. Native Americans would gain valuable trade items like guns, blankets, and metal tools for their robes. ![]() Fort Union traded an average of about 40,000 buffalo robes in a year. Smoking would last until the desired color was achieved.Īfter the smoke and process, the hide could now be called a buffalo robe and be taken to the fort to be traded. This was done by creating a fire pit filled with sage. The final stage in the buffalo tanning process required the hide to be smoked. To break up the fibers of the hide and make the hide more pliable, the buffalo hide was worked over a rope. This watery paste or solution was then applied to the hide. The brains of the buffalo were placed in a pot of water and boiled until it was turned into a watery paste. It was commonly said that every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide. The Native Americans use the brain tanning process to tan the hide. To produce a buffalo robe, the hide needs to be tanned. If the meat and fat were not removed, it would spoil the hide. The hides were fleshed using a scraper made from elk antler to remove the fat and meat from the hide. Next, the hide was tied to a frame to begin the flesh and process. Upon falling the buffalo, a process to turn their hides into robes began.Ī hide was freshly skinned from the buffalo and was first cleaned the dirt. Young men of the tribe would go out and track a herd of buffalo as a large hunting party. The process to create a buffalo robe began with the hunt itself. The better the robe, the better the trade. During the fur trade, Native Americans turned buffalo hides into robes and sold them for trade goods. The hide was used for tepees, clothing, and trading. To waste any part of the buffalo was considered foolish. ![]() Bones were made into various tools, weapons, and ceremonial items. Buffalo were a stable diet for the tribes and supplied many of their needs. The buffalo and the buffalo hides were essential to the livelihood of the Native Americans and to Fort Union during the 1800s. I'd like to welcome you to Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. ![]()
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