What describes the tanning process?

• A. Leather was created by salting hides only.
• B. Hides were boiled and stretched to dry.
• C. Hides were turned into leather and then to cloth by smoking the tanned hides over a fire, then softening with deer brain.
• D. Hides were only dried in the sun without further processing.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how tanning actually turns raw hides into usable leather. Haudenosaunee tanning didn’t stop at drying or salting; it transformed the skin’s collagen so it becomes a durable, flexible material. A key part of their method was brain tanning, using deer brain to soften and stabilize the hide. Once the hide was softened, it was smoked over a fire. Smoking helps dry the leather slowly and adds preservation, making it more resistant to moisture and decay. This combination—softening with brain tissue and preserving through smoke—produces leather that can be made into clothing, tools, or gear.

Other approaches don’t create leather in the same way. Simply salting hides preserves them but doesn’t turn them into leather. Boiling and stretching to dry would damage the hide rather than produce a pliable leather. Drying in the sun without processing wouldn’t yield a usable, durable leather either.