Braintan is an ancient method of tanning hides that involves dressing a raw hide with brains, (or other natural emulsified oils) softening it with manual labor to produce soft buckskin and smoking it to preserve the softness.

Some version of braintan was produced in nearly every part of the world, at some point in history. Here in America, when we think of buckskin, the first thing that comes to mind are the native plains tribes with their long, graceful fringe. And with good reason. Buffalo, deer, antelope, bighorn sheep, and elk hides clothed them, and provided their shelters in the form of hide Tipis. But did you know that buckskin was also worn by those on the Lewis and Clark expedition, the trappers (mountain men) of the 1800’s, and settlers in both the east and west?

When they harvested their meat supply, they gained the raw materials for their clothes. All they needed came with the animal, except for wood smoke and a few simple tools.