As we were to be busy for the rest of the day, we made a suitable camp and started a fire and by that time the moose had stiffened enough for proper handling while removing the skin. As usual the hunter’s first act was to cut the eyes, then to cut off the head, which he at once skinned and, removing the tongue, hung the head beside the fire to cook while we went on with our work. But while we propped up the moose and got it into position, three whiskey jacks came, as they always seem to come at the first sign of smoke, to pay us a visit and partake of the feast.
In the forest there are several different ways of skinning animals: one is called "case skinning" and another is called "split skinning." To case skin an animal, the skin is cut down the inner side of each hind leg until the two cuts meet just under the tail, and the pelt is peeled off by turning it inside out. To split skin an animal, the skin is cut down the belly from the throat to the tail and also on the inside of each leg to the center cut, and then the pelt is peeled off both ways toward the back. All split skins are stretched on rectangular frames, all save beaver skins which are stretched on oval frames. All case skins are stretched over wedge-shaped boards of various sizes, all save muskrat skins which are more often stretched over a hooped frame or looped stick. So of course our moose skin was a split skin but there was still another way for a man to skin an animal that is too large for one man to turn over, and that is in case the animal is lying on its belly to split the skin down the back and then peel it off both ways toward the belly.
If the skin is to be used as a robe, the hair is left on, and the animal’s brains are rubbed into the inner side of the pelt, after the aft has been removed, and then the skin is left to dry. That softens the pelt, but the traders prefer skins to be sun-dried or cold-dried. If the skin is to be used as a leather, the hair is cut off with a knife, and a deer’s shinbone is used as a dressing tool in scraping off the fat; both sides of the skin are dressed to remove the outer surface. It is easier to dress a skin in winter than in summer, but the summer-made leather wears better, for the reason that the roots of the hair run all the way through a summer skin; whereas in winter the roots show only on the outer side; that is why a fur-trader-when looking only at the inner side can tell whether a skin has been taken in the winter or in the summer. In dressing leather the inner side is rubbed well with brains which are then allowed to soak for three or four days; then the skin is soaked in a vessel of water, but not in a river for about two days more; then it is stretched again and let dry, then scraped with a bone, shell, or steel scraper if it is a moose skin, only on one side, but if it is a caribou skin, on both sides. The object of scraping is to further soften the skin. After that, it is taken off the stretcher and rubbed together between the hands and pulled between two people. Then it is stretched again and smoked over a slow fire that does not blaze. These were the steps taken by the Métis when skinning and tanning their skins.
- from "The Drama of the Forest" by Arthur Heming