|
Post by hawkeyes on Feb 27, 2020 17:07:28 GMT -7
Maybe this is a variation of the "half-tan" mentioned. I don't doubt the original authors described what they saw. As moccasins were disposable, any treatment that helped the leather remain somewhat supple would be an advantage. Ultimately, tanned or quick-tanned moccasins would wear out and if you have other pairs without much time invested, then it seems like you are ahead... Very agreeable, I'm very curious to what degree of quality this method yields. I'll be doing some investigation as I'm curious as to what type of chemical processes are taking place with the method described. I know some barks are very high in tannins, this also can be a downside for tanning in higher concentrations.
|
|
Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990
|
Post by Keith on Feb 27, 2020 17:13:05 GMT -7
We all know that we can not always trust the validity of information even if it is from historical observation at the time, different people interpret what they see & hear in different ways. I strongly suspect that the brain tan mixture was warm & not hot, & I would not be surprised at all that if a person was in desperate need of a new pair of moccasins, & there were none already available, that they would put these moccasins on their feet before the tanning process was finished.
Keith.
|
|
|
Post by spence on Mar 1, 2020 19:21:28 GMT -7
Let me point out that the quick method of making 'shooes' used bark, not brains.
The citation I posted from John Lawson about brain tanning in the Carolinas was "Deers Brains, (which beforehand are made in a Cake and baked in the Embers) ".
At roughly the same time, in Virginia, the Virginian historian Robert Beverly Jr. wrote: “[The Indians] make excellent Broth, of the Head and Umbles of a Deer, which they put into the Pot all bloody. ....They eat not the Brains with the Head, but dry, and reserve them to dress their Leather with.”
Spence
|
|