We Get Better When We Tan Moose Hides

Incoming Editorial·Reviewed June 13, 2026

The tradition of tanning hides with brains was once practiced by every Dené person in Alaska. An art that was nearly lost by assimilation, Kathleen Hildebrand works with a group of Dené women at her urban backyard hide camp in the heart of Chen’o (Fairbanks) to revive this tradition. One of the few films out there narrated in Denaakk’e, we learn alongside the women how the hides have healing.