Animal Kin Commitment

Traditional Hide Tanning & Bone Craft

From 2023-2026, with no prior experience, I made a silent commitment to work with every animal kin that came to me in their death.  And so they came, from forest and ocean and lake and farm - black bear, cow, deer, sheep, mountain goat, elk, racoon, snake, greenling, cabezon, shark, rabbit and shrew. Slowly, diligently, carefully, I learned how to honour their bodies - each animal receiving weeks, months and even years of attention.

Hides were tanned with alum or brain, worked and softened with egg or bear fat I rendered myself. Bones degreased and whitened, slow soaked and basked in sun. Maggots scraped from skull into flowing creek. “Robes” (skin) carefully removed, fleshed, strung up and softened by the works of my hands. Body and bone butchered, boiled, cooked and shared. Sinew dried and pounded into cordage. Fat rendered for cooking, medicine, and leatherwork. Punky wood collected and dried from the ancient forest for a final smoke.

These works are an embodied devotion of deep, loving intimacy, coming to know our animal kin inside and out, in life and death. Working their bodies, sculpted and strengthened mine.  Eating their flesh and rendered fat softened my hips, feeding life into my cells.  Sharing them in community wove us into the fabric of our chosen landscapes.  Dreamscapes, spirit, bodies merged.  My ancestors did so, and so will I, honouring what comes from farm and the Commonage.

Deep gratitude to the taxidermist/tanners, abattoirs, fishermen and hunters - each with a love of the land and devotion to conservation - who taught me along the way.

 *These animals were ethically, legally, humanely and sustainably killed.  I was present for many of their deaths, some of whom I killed myself. One was hit by a car. A hide and a few of the bones were found, so I do not know the details of how these animals met their end.