“My work is my prayer, I move forward with faith & trust that life will guide the right people to me, and me to them. This isn’t just high quality material, it’s a statement. It’s me saying I know who I am & what my purpose is.” - Jaydon

Who am I & what is TTNZ?

I started learning about traditional tanning mid 2023 after 2 of my close friends showed me a book called “Traditional Tanning, Leather & Fur skin - Lotta Rahme.” 2 photos in there that really caught my attention, a caribou hide parka & a hood made of feathers/bird skins. That in combination with beautiful & soft possum skins they had tanned inspired me to pursue traditional tanning.

Traditional Tanning, especially Buckskin, is not well known here in New Zealand. So after spending a year studying traditional tanning, I started to share it with people online. I created a Facebook group which has a healthy & thriving community that continues to grow.

My dream is to be able to produce Buckskin, possum cloaks, brain tanned bison hides, to host workshops & teach people. I genuinely love this art & know for a fact that I will be doing it for the rest of my life.

Traditional tanning is physically demanding. However, I absolutely love being able to turn something once considered waste or a byproduct, into high quality material that can last for years, decades, if not a lifetime.

- Jaydon

A hide I was proud of.

Softening a Hide.

What is Smoked Tanned suede/aka buckskin?

Smoke tanned leather, like the name implies, is a form of leather or suede that is tanned with smoke. First I scrape off the grain & fur, then the hide is softened by hand on a frame thanks to a lot of physical labor & oils that have been imbued into the hide.

The hide is then smoked to preserve this acquired state, but to also make it water resistant. It’s not water proof, but If it were to get wet, it will either return back to its previous state as it dries, or will need very minimal stretching.

This leather was used heavily by indigenous tribes of North America, mountain men, Europeans, Egyptians, Africans, Japanese, Mongolians & many other cultures. It’s one of the, if not the oldest form of tanning/preserving animal hides that we know of.

Smoke tanned leather is great for moccasins, bags, beading work, quill work, rifle bags/cases, vests, jackets, pants. It’s a leather that was commonly used by mountain men during the Fur Trade during the 1800’s in North America. It’s genuinely just straight natural leather.

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