My friend from work, DW, is into all things hunting. He is always looking for the next big adventure, and he found it this spring at a bison farm a few hours from the city. I asked him if he would inquire on the price of the hides. When the owner of the farm found out what my use for the hide would be, not only did he donate it, but he also provided me with an Elk hide for the same great deal! I was ecstatic! I was going to have my very own bison robe! The excitement didn't last long when DW showed up at my apartment. The back of his teeny tiny car weighed down almost to the point of snapping his poor old thing right in half. It took the three of us, DW, Big D and myself, to get it moved into the basement of the apartment building. I was now beginning to panic.
Given that this beast weighed at least 400lbs and was much more stinky and dirty than I had ever imagined, I was thinking I had bitten off more than I can chew. I inquired with the only taxidermist in down that deals with hair on hides for a price. He quoted me $20 a square foot which sounded cheap enough until the calculations of a 40 square foot hide had me rethinking the whole idea and very quickly. Unless this hide was going to unfold into a small 1 bedroom apartment for me, there was no way I could justify a month and half worth of rent on it.
Plan B, and quick because this beast is starting to stink up the building!! Big D called his wonderful "grandparents", Mr E and C, who know just about everything there is to know on any skill you want to acquire. They agreed to help us clean, scrape, tan and stretch the hide. In the end, there were six of us working on this beast who we ended up naming Tanka. Mr E told us that it is the Plains Cree word for Bison and we figured it was fitting, despite Big D's request to name him Hulk.
So, in order to keep things interesting, I'm going to post pictures and give you a brief description of the process we were going through. That should give you kiddies something to keep your attention.
After soaking the hide to soften it, we had to wash Tanka to get the majority of the dirt and salt out of it. It was a very VERY disgusting process. It wasn't touching him that was the bad part, it was the smell. Something along the lines of dead wet dog on a hot summer day.
Tanka all washed and pretty, we even used Mane and Tail shampoo on him!
Here's Mr E working hard on building the 7.5' square frame!
After washing Tanka, and stopping for lunch, we got him on a tarp to make him easier to transport.
End of day one, we have the frame built and Tanka washed and ready to go!
Day two of the process. Now I know he looks very dirty right now, that is the membrane that needs to be scraped off. We started by punching holes to put the S hooks in for stretching.
Here we have myself, Mr E and R working hard to get Tanka stretched up in his frame. Tiny T is supervising and what a great job she is doing!!
Even as big as this frame is, Tanka is MUCH easier to transport this way. If you don't believe me on the size of the frame, Big D in the brown shirt is 6'7" and you can see how much of an angle the frame is on. Tiny T and C are next to him, Mr E and R on the other side.
And so begins the scraping process. While everyone managed to get good sized chunks going, we decided Mr E must have been an aboriginal woman in a past life, look at him go!!
After a full day of scraping, sharpening knives, and trying to keep the flies off of him, Tanka has been scraped down to hide.
Time to get a round of tanning solution on him before the day is done. Instead of the traditional brain tanning process, we chose to use Ivory soap and Neets Foot oil. It gives the same colouring as brain tanned leather but smells way better!
The soapy mixture ready to go.
Mr E, Big D and I working in the solution with paddles. Even after a hard day of work, Big D still manages to find time to be silly
Two days later, after the tanning solution had soaked in.
We scraped down the hide again and did another round of tanning solution. We did this three times.
By the time the fall gather rolled around, Tanka was ready to begin the stretching process. I started myself with a piece of wood. I ended up having to stand on him and noticed that my feed were doing a better job of it. The children noticed this and had a great afternoon "skating" on Tanka. Even some of the adults got involved. It was a very fun activity for all. I cannot guarantee its historical accuracy though.
So that is where Tanka sits right now. I have to re-hydrate him some and stretch him some more before we can smoke it over the fire. That final process will seal him and prevent little buggies from making Tanka their home. I'm not sure if that will be accomplished before spring as we just got our first snowfall and it seems to be staying. We shall see. If we get a warm weekend I may have to get out there quick and finish Tanka. After all, I'm sure Mr E and C would like use of their garage again!
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