As you may or may not know, I do a lot of work with the National Native American Veterans Association and have contributed a fair amount of time to their Warrior's Moccasin Project.

It is tradition in most Native American communities that when a member of the tribe goes off to war, that member is provided with a new pair of moccasins which are ceremonially blessed and packaged. The purpose is so the member will be able to walk home when the fighting has ended. I couldn't tell you how many pairs of moccasins have been made and delivered to our country's Armed Forces personnel as I am no good with numbers and such. I'm best left alone to my own little corner of the world where I can work behind the scenes to make things happen. To this end, I have made contacts for the delivery of deer hides to my location for tanning and delivery to those who actually create the moccasins from patterns that I also made and distributed to volunteers across the nation.

Presently, we are purchasing hides from a tannery and this consumes the majority of the finances which have been donated to this project. While brain tanned hides are preferred, one person can't tan enough to really do a lot of good so during March of 2006, I did some wheeling and dealing to procure two hide tanning tanks and the basic training in how to use them. To make a long story short, I know NOTHING about how to tan hides using these tanks and they came with no manuals or instructions. The individual who would have provided me the on-site training in the use of these tanks has become disabled and cannot assist me in any way or form.

Below are a couple of photographs I have taken of the tanks to give those interested an idea of what they look like and what I have to work with. Since the photos were taken, the black tank has been for the most part rebuilt and the white one is well on its way.

I would like to use these tanks to tan hides strictly for non-profit use, in support of Native American veterans and serving troops. I wish to use only nature-friendly chemicals and processes in this work, and can use all the advice / assistance I can get. I am told that with these tanks I can process hides under pressure in as little as 4 hours, which will be a great benefit if and when I learn what I'm supposed to be doing.

My email address is gunbunny@cableone.net.

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