Jon Boren, Terrell T. “Red” Baker, Brian J. Hurd, and Glenn Mason1
Because preserving hides and furs is an ancient art, many successful preservation methods have been
developed through the years. Native Americans used wood ashes to remove the hair and used brain
matter as a tanning agent. Native Americans also chewed the hides to produce soft buckskin, but few
modern hobby tanners are willing to try these methods.