PREPARATION OF SKINS. 



293 



not, 1 may ijrocced to describe the process of preparing the skins of 

 wliich this clothiiis' is nia(h!. Tlic skins of the deer, which are ti> be 

 converted into buckskin and parcliiiiciit, are laid to one side inalieap, 

 just as they came from the bodies of the animals or after they Iiave 

 gone through a process to be subsetiueiitly described. 



When tlie skins have laid in this heap for sever:il days decomposi- 

 tion sets in and loosens the hair so it will readily pull out. When the 

 pelt is ready for scraping it is thrown over a i-ound stick of wood some 

 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 3 or 4 feet long, one end of \\hi(!h rests 

 on the ground while the other is pressed 

 against the abdomen of the woman who 

 is doing the work. Tiuin she tak(!S a 

 tool lik(i a spoke shave (Figs. 102, 103, 

 No. 3ir)2) made from the radius of the 

 deer, by cutting a sli<'e ott" the middle 

 part of the back of the bone, so as to 

 make a sharp edge while the untonciu^d 

 ends serve for handles, and with this 

 scrapes oft' the loosened liair. 



The sharp edge of the bone instru- 

 ment coming against the hairs pushes 

 or pulls them out but does not cut the 

 skin. 



The flesh side of the pelt is now 

 worked to free it from particles of tiesh 

 and blood, together with as much of 

 the moisture in the skin as may be 

 hastily done, for if the person has a 

 great number of skins to attend to she 

 must work rapidly lest they decompose 

 too much and ])utrefy. 



Where th(^ hunter has great success 

 in killing deer many of the skins are left 

 untouched because there is no one to at- 

 tend to them and they are thus wasted. 



When the pelts of the deer or other 

 large animals have been taken from the 

 (iarcass they are allowed to dry with I'-'-iw-^kin-oi^-i"*-"""'- ^-'e^t- 

 the adherent flesh, fat, and liganuMits until a convenient opportunity 

 occurs to remove those portions from tlie skin, wliicii must l)e moistened 

 to permit them to be more readily scraped off. If the fresh skins are 

 to be cleaned immediately, they are opei'ated upon in the sanies man- 

 ner as those previously dried. All the skins of fur-l)caring animals and 

 those furnishing skins for clothing and other purposes must be scraped, 

 otherwise they would soon be soiled by the intiltratiou of the fat among 

 the hairs. 



