Hide tanning not a lost art yet

By Lethbridge Herald on June 26, 2025.

Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local journalism Initiative Reporter

Back when bison and other animals roamed the prairies, Blackfoot and other Indigenous people would use the hide of these animals to make their clothes, moccasins, drums and other useful items.

With the advent of modern technology, the art of hide tanning has slowly faded, often being substituted with machines and chemicals. But there are people like Winston Wadsworth Jr. who want to help preserve the art for generations to come.

Wadsworth has been hide tanning since he was 12 years old. Since then, what began as a fun pastime has grown into something more meaningful.

Wadsworth says while it’s an art form that hasn’t been used in many years, it’s something that has never been lost for Indigenous people, and he hopes that by hosting hide tanning camps, it will never be completely lost.

“My goal by doing these hide camps is to teach our people the skill of our old people, that way in the future we will never lose the skill of hide tanning.”

He explains that it’s important to teach the ways of his ancestors because he was shown by his grandparents and uncles. While they have all passed on, Wadsworth says he can feel their presence every time he tans hide and wants to share that experience with others.

“Each one of us, our grandparents, did this for a living, for survival.”

Wadsworth was also taught that wearing hide brings the animal back to life through ceremony.

Hide tanning is a process of removing fur, fat and other debris from animal skin to create a soft, flexible material. In modern day times, many people use lye and other chemicals to soften the hide, however Wadsworth doesn’t like using chemicals and prefers a more natural mixture of brains, marrow and eggs.

“There’s hides out there being sold to our people that are tanned with chemicals,” he says. “I strongly believe those are dangerous for our people.”

He has made special connections with local Hutterites and taxidermists to acquire animal brains and has gifted moccasins and gloves in return.

He also considers each participant taking part of his hide camps a part of his family, many of whom are excited to learn traditional ways of knowing.

“Every time I do this, my family gets bigger because there’s not many of us hide tanners. Every time I do this, they’re here because they want to be.”

On Friday, the Herald will be posting a video on its Instagram (leth_herald)  with behind-the-scenes content, including the finished product of the work members of the Blackfoot Resource Hub put in over four days at a hide tanning camp hosted by Wadsworth.