Smoke-tanned Buckskin | Aug 30 - Sept 2
This is a four-day | in-person | hands-on course.
You receive a fresh hide salvaged from waste during hunting season, learn to tan it yourself, and take home your transformed creation at the end: the soft + supple cloth textile known as Smoke-tanned Buckskin.
Our natural tanning method is Smoke-tanning, also known as brain-tanning. Smoke-tanning is the most ancient method of hide tanning in the world: Hide. Fat. Smoke. Combined together, these ingredients transform a skin into fabric, and it is forever changed.
Buckskin is the product of this method, a velvety soft material similar to linen, but as strong as leather. Your buckskin cloth can be used at home as a throw, blanket, alter cloth, adornment; it can be turned into clothing, tote bags, purses. It is a material that will last a lifetime.
Schedule: 10am to 3-4pm each day
Location: North Saanich, W̱SÁNEĆ Peninsula
Click “learn more” to register in 1 or 3 payments. You’ll be asked to create an account first.
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Getting Started
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Course Schedule
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Integration
Staying on the land
You are welcome to stay on the land during the hide tanning course (affectionately known as a “hide camp”).
We have unlimited camping spots available in a secluded meadow + The Loft guest suite above the horse barn.
Spending down time with your new tanning cohort makes the weekend take on a whole different dimension. It’s a true retreating out of time and into an immersion of nature, community, and ancestral reverance.
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A handbuilt suite in the old hay loft of the farm barn. Watch the horses, goats, and sheep from your balcony.
Amenities:
- kitchenette
- double bed + pull-out sofa
- dining area
- composting toilet
- clawfoot bathtub
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For $24 CAD/night per person, stay in the meadow along with other participants of the hide course.
Amenities:
- electrical outlet for charging phones
- water
- indoor bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower
- indoor fridge + food storage
