592 



SKIN" AND SKIN DRESSING 



[B. A. E. 



working together in the open air. Sun- 

 shine, without too great heat, is essential 

 for the best result. 



The fleshing process begins as soon as 

 possible after the hide is stripped from 

 the carcass, while the skin is still soft and 

 moist. The hide is staked out upon the 

 ground, fleshy side up, when two women, 

 working together, scrape off the flesh and 

 fat ])}' means of a sort of gouge with ser- 

 rated edge, anciently made from the leg 

 bone of some large animal, for which is 

 now substituted a similar iron instrument 

 procured from the traders. By means of 

 a loop going over the wrist the strength 

 of the blow is increased, the worker 

 kneeling or Ijending over the skin. 



Next comes the scraping, a very labori- 

 ous process, the instrument used being a 

 sort of short adz, made of wood or elk- 

 horn, with a blade of stone or iron set at 

 a riffht angle to the handle. Several 



METHOD OF MOUNTING BUFFALO-HIDE BY WESTERN TRIBES 



women work together. The hide is 

 staked out, hair side up, with a bed of 

 old dressed skin under it to break the 

 force of the blow, and thus prevent tear- 

 ing, as well as to keep the dressed surface 

 clean. Each side is scraped in turn, the 

 final scraping Ijeing the more delicate 

 operation. The hair and the skin shav- 

 ings are saved for filling jnllows, or are 

 sometimes boiled into soup. 



Then comes the liraining process, in 

 which the skin is thoroughly anointed 

 with a mixture of cooked brains and liver, 

 grease, and pounded soaproot (yucca), 

 all mixed together antl applied with a 

 sponge of soaproot fi])er. A little salt is 

 frequently added. The liver if hashed, 

 or sometimes chewed, to rendei it fine 

 enough before cooking, and approxi- 

 mately the whole brain and liver of the 

 animal are required to dress its hide. 

 Tlie braining is an easy and rapid process. 



after which a bundle of dried grass is laid 

 in the center of the hide and saturated 

 with hot water, when the corners of the 

 hide are brought together over it in bag 

 fashion, and the skin tightly twisted into 

 a solid ball, and hung up to soak over- 

 night for the next process. According to 

 Schoolcraft (Narr. Jour., 323, 1821), the 

 eastern Sioux dressed their buffalo skins 

 with a deco(;tion of oak bark, which he 

 surmises may have been an idea borrowed 

 from the whites. According to LaFlesche, 

 liver is not used in the dressing process 

 by the Ponca, Omaha, and Oto, and meat 

 broth is sometimes substituted for brains, 

 while the hide is soaked in the running 

 stream overnight. The Maricopa of s. 

 Arizona use the castor bean in the tan- 

 ning process. 



Next comes the stripping, intended 

 to squeeze out the surplus moisture and 

 the dressing mixture. The dampened 

 hide is first opened out and twisted 

 into a rope in order to expel as much 

 moisture as can be thus dislodged, after 

 which it is stretched tightly, at an 

 angle of a])out 45 degrees, in a frame 

 consisting of a crosspiece supported by 

 2 stout forked poles, the lower end of the 

 skin being staked to the ground. The 

 stripping is done by 2 women working 

 together, the instrument being a broad 

 blade about 6 in. long, set in a bone 

 handle, and much resembling a small hoe 

 blade. The ancient tool was of stone. 

 The instrument being grasped horizon- 

 tally in both hands, with the blade press- 

 ing heavily upon the skin, it is drawn 

 steadily from top to bottom, causing a 

 thin stream of water to ooze out before 

 the blade as it descends. As one woman 

 nears the bottom her partner follows 

 along the same track, before the moisture 

 can work back under the blade. In this 

 way the work goes on to the end over 

 the whole surface of the skin, after 

 which the skin is left suspended in the 

 frame to dry and bleach until it is ready 

 for graining. This is done with a globu- 

 lar piece of bone, as large as can be con- 

 veniently held in the hand, cut from the 

 spongy portion of the humerus of a 

 buffalo or other large animal. With this 

 the wliole surface of the skin is rubbed 

 as with sandpaper to reduce the hide to 

 uniform thickness and smoothness and 

 to remove any hanging fibers. After this 

 the breaks and holes are repaired with 

 an awl and sinew thread. According to 

 La Flesche, the semiagricultural Omaha 

 and Pawnee also rub corn-meal over the 

 skin to hasten the drying process. 



Then comes the process of working or 

 softening, to render the skin pliable. This 

 is done by drawing the skin for some 

 time in seesaw fashion across a rope of 

 twisted sinew stretched between two trees 



