Survival Skills: Brain Tanning Hides

Before the advent of chemical tanning of hides to make leather, animal skins were subjected to all kinds of strange concoctions to degrease and soften them. Urine, wood ashes, tree bark acid, and even toxic substances like mercury have been employed over the centuries to tan skins into useful leather. But few natural substances have had such a long and successful track record as animal brains. How does it work? Brain tissue is full of very fine oils that condition and soften the animal skin, if the skin is moving while it dries. If the skin just lies there and dries out, brains or no brains, the glues in the skin naturally set up and you have "raw hide" as the result--great to let the dogs chew on, but not so great for making clothes.

Unlock the Ancient Art of Hide Tanning

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The process of brain tanning is explained by an Ojibwa elder.