Working on Moosehide, a Participatory Video Project with the Kaska Nation, Yukon, Canada

Our project sought to document the complete step-by-step processing of Kaska moosehide through experiential learning and participatory video.  Processing of hides is a key Dene woman’s skill.  As Subarctic hunting peoples, the ability to prepare hides so they can be used for footwear, clothing and other purposes was crucial to Dene survival.  Traditional smoke-tanned moosehide is a unique substance, remarkably supple and durable, and unlike commercially tanned products.  The tremendous skill and labour required to successfully tan hides means that few still have the ability or knowledge to do this. Our Elder was 84 years old at the time of our project in August 2012, which lent recording her knowledge a certain urgency.  Our approach combined traditional knowledge and language research with ethnoarchaeology. This 17.5 minute video is a distillation of the steps in traditional tanning of a moosehide.