In this program we will learn all the necessary steps to take a fresh deerskin from the animal to a finished sheet of grain-on leather. We will use a technique that leverages tannin-rich plant materials to do the chemical process that turns raw hides into in easily softened leather. Skinning, fleshing, dehairing, neutralizing, cooking bark and leaf and tanning in the bath, and finishing will be covered. Processing fresh hides to finished leather spans many days, so we will have skins in various stages to enable participants get hands-on experience at each step. No one skin will be finished during this class; the focus will be on learning the process (there will not be any finished leather for students to take home). This will be a full day of learning and experiencing this involved but transformative process.
Instructions: Please bring a backpack with drinking water, a snack, and an extra warm layer. We recommend wearing clothes suitable for getting messy while working with skins. Gloves and hand sanitizer are a fine idea.
Date: Saturday, December 14
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Lunch will be provided.
Ages: 12+
Location: Viola, WI
Sliding Scale Course Fee Guidelines
Supporter Level Ticket: $135
If you move through the world with financial ease and the means to fulfill many of your wants as well as your needs – you are able to eat out when you want, abundantly meet your needs through employment or can comfortably not work, have access to family wealth, own property, etc. – consider paying at this level, which will help us ensure the long term sustainability of our programs while keeping our offerings accessible to those with access to fewer resources.
Sustainer Level Ticket: $110
If you are able to meet your needs with relative ease while budgeting your educational and entertainment spending – for instance, you are able to take classes and eat out occasionally as long as you are mindful – consider paying at this level, which will help sustain the work of the Folk School at a modest level.
Supported Level Ticket: $85
If you struggle to fund your basic needs and have limited access to resources in your family and community, or if you would not be able to access this offering without a discounted payment option, consider paying at this level. We value your presence and contributions to our community and do not want any economic circumstances to be a barrier to attendance!
Instructor Bio — Nicholas WazeeGale
Nicholas WazeeGale is a lifelong student of the natural world, traditional cultures, and sustainability. His life is intricately tied to the Driftless landscape through foraging plant and fungi foods, hunting and fishing, tanning skins, making traditional handcraft, and obsessively observing and tracking the myriad unfoldings of the living landscape. He is a long time instructor with the Driftless Folks School and other outdoor education institutions, contracts as a professional wildlife tracker with the Wisconsin DNR, and teaches at the Kickapoo Valley Forest School. He is a certified Wilderness Guide through a year long wilderness living immersion course and holds both a Professional and Specialist Certification in track and sign via Tracker Certification North America.
Find him online at…
Instagram: @naturalnuances and/or @wildrootshandcrafts
Facebook: Nicholas WazeeGale
Website: www.wildrootshandcrafts.com