Buckskin is the soft, pliable, porous preserved hide of an animal – usuallydeer –tanned in the same way as deerskin clothing worn byNative Americans. Some leather sold as "buckskin" may now besheepskin tanned with modern chromate tanning chemicals and dyed to resemble real buckskin.
Traditionally, Native Americans would scrape away the excessive fat clinging to the hide, and this would be followed by working the raw hide with thebrain tissue of an animal.[1] Afterwards, the raw hide is made to envelope a fire that emitswood smoke, and where the smoke is mostly trapped inside the raw hide for many hours.[1] The combined application of brain tissue and smoke produces soft and pliable buckskin leather, with a dark honey color. This treatment differs from the traditional tanning methods used in other societies and cultures and is thought to be preferable to vegetable tanning methods wheretannins are exclusively used.[1] The finished product resembleschamois leather, but is stronger.[1] Smoking gives to the leather its durability, and although buckskin may become slightly stiff when it dries after being wet, it quickly restores itself to its former soft-state by rubbing it with the hands.[1] The application of wood smoke also deters insects from devouring it. Unsmoked buckskin is lighter, even white, in color.
Clothing made of buckskin is referred to asbuckskins.
Genuine Indian-tanned buckskin is, properly speaking, not tanned at all. Tanned leather has undergone a chemical change, from the tannin or other chemicals used in converting it from the raw hide to leather. Buckskin, on the contrary, is still a raw skin that has been made supple and soft by breaking up the fibers mechanically and has then merely been treated with brains and smoke to preserve its softness. In color and pliability it is somewhat like what is called chamois skin, but it is far stronger and has the singular property that although it shrinks some after wetting and gets stiff in drying, it can easily be made soft as ever by merely rubbing it in the hands.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
