Building of the Knife and Sheath

The blade itself was actually first a worn out file that was then remade into a knife blade, which is incredibly resourceful and also saved a lot of time and money for the creator. Leather work is a tradition of Odawa women for practical purposes or to trade with settlers. The process of leathermaking involves taking the skin of an animal (usually deer) a woman or her family member may have hunted themselves, then de-hairing the skin, by soaking in water and then scraping it off. The skin would then be set out to dry and then softened. Today leather can be bought and is often used to make sheaths but was most likely made the traditional way (not by the blade creator but an unknown person) because these reenactors pay tribute to the craft of the Native peoples. Mary Wemigwase included beadwork and  quill work making a very intricate pattern on the shealth that she made for the knife. Quill work involves porcupines quills that were directly inserted into the leather making patterns and pictures on things like boxes and clothing and even knife sheaths. A good video to watch about the 13 steps to making leather and tanning is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWUCC00yGd8. Another good video about quill work is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPNxl-bg1Jk&t=7s . This video talks about different styles and techniques.