Braintanning

Today, brain tanning is a relatively common and widespread craft, with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of braintanners worldwide. But it hasn’t always been this way. Just a few decades ago, it was a nearly unknown method of tanning hides, teetering on the edge of total oblivion.

When I began fully dedicating myself to historical Native American reenacting in 1997, my goal was clear from the start: as few compromises as possible. I wanted to achieve the exact same material authenticity as the Indians of the Great Plains before 1880. Very soon, I hit a major obstacle—modern, industrially tanned leathers looked, smelled, and behaved completely differently than historical ones.

Over time, I discovered that all the hides used by Indians in the pre-reservation era were brain-tanned. But how was one to obtain such hides in the middle of Europe, where almost no one really knew how to do it?

At that time, very little was known about brain tanning in the Czech Republic. The number of people who had even heard of this method could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and their experience was extremely limited. The only available resource was a very brief booklet by Larry Belitz on the Lakota method of tanning (Step-by-Step Brain Tanning the Lakota Way), which only described the dry-scrape method in a frame and was quite general.

The situation in the USA was not much better. Besides the aforementioned booklet, the only substantial resource available was essentially Jim Riggs’ book, Blue Mountain Buckskin. Even across the pond, information and experience were scarce, and the gradual resuscitation of this method was happening very slowly.

In the pre-reservation era—before 1880—brain tanning was a daily technology for all Native American women. After the transition to reservation life, hides were replaced by cloth until brain tanning eventually ceased altogether. By around 1930, the method was no longer in use even among Native Americans. The people who mastered it gradually passed away, and their descendants never learned it because they no longer had a reason to.

It wasn’t until the 1970s and 80s that certain individuals began searching for this ancient method. These were often outdoor enthusiasts, primitive wilderness campers, and admirers of trappers, Native Americans, and Stone Age technologies. They visited reservations to ask Indian grandmothers who might still remember how their great-grandmothers had done it. Another source was the surviving historical accounts of travelers, trappers, traders, and later ethnologists who described the technology of Indian tanning. Although these records were often technically imprecise, the entire process was gradually reconstructed over time.

After 2000, books began to appear that pushed the knowledge base of brain tanning to an even higher level. Chief among these are the excellent Deerskins into Buckskins by Matt Richards, and Buckskin: The Ancient Art of Braintanning by Steven Edholm and Tamara Wilder. Thanks to these authors, the entire method is now documented in such detail that it is not difficult to achieve the exact same results as the tribes of the Great Plains or the Eastern Woodlands did centuries ago.

But back to the Czech Republic in the late nineties. The beginnings here were a true ordeal. I bought my first batch of raw deerskins, built frames and scrapers, and began to experiment. My first hides were full of holes and soft in only a few spots. But, as with everything I do, I tried to get to the heart of the matter and not give up. After a few dozen tanned pieces, the results finally became usable.

A major turning point was discovering the “wet-scrape” method. Unlike dry-scraping in a frame, this method was more efficient and historically more widespread for smaller hides. Thanks to the advice of my German friend, Georg Barth, and the study of literature, I managed to fine-tune the process. Another step forward was mastering bucking (using lime or ash), which loosens the fibers for better brain penetration, and pre-smoking, which dramatically eases the subsequent softening process.

Brain tanning is hard physical labor that cannot be bypassed. It is a full-fledged craft that requires hundreds of tanned hides before one truly understands the material and the technology. I have met dozens of people who wanted to learn it, but almost no one stuck with it. Why? Because brain tanning is not for “overnight successes.” It is dirty, exhausting work where the hides smell and the result is uncertain for a beginner. It is work that grounds you and tests your inner integrity.

My journey toward understanding this technology culminated in 2020 when I decided to pass on my years of experience. I filmed a series of videos for YouTube that explain the entire process step-by-step. To this day, it remains the only comprehensive video tutorial in Czech. Although I didn’t expect much from it, the greatest reward for me was meeting people who actually learned the craft through these videos. The circle has closed—brain tanning in Czechia is no longer just a forgotten chapter in books, but a living craft.

Today, after years of work, I can look back at a journey that began in 1997. I have achieved a quality that is materially indistinguishable from 19th-century originals. When I put on my complete trapper’s outfit today—made from buckskin I tanned, cut, and sewed myself, where every hide passed through my hands from the skinning of the animal to the finished coat or moccasins—I know it isn’t just a “costume.” It is the result of a true rebirth of an old, almost forgotten world.