Reindeer Tanning and Handicraft Revitalization on St. Paul Island

On St. Paul Island today, there are almost 1,000 wild reindeer. Since there is knowledge or culture involving reindeer skins, pelts, and antlers. People would often shoot the reindeer, take the meat, and throw away the rest. Tukuuludaa wanted to take advantage of this great resource on our island and make reindeer hides that would have otherwise been discarded into textiles for handicraft, but they didn’t know how.

With support from Native Movement’s Movement Fund and Tanadgusix TDX Corporation, we were able to turn what was once considered waste into a powerful tool for cultural revitalization. We traveled to Norway, Sweden, and Finland to meet with Sámi and Nordic reindeer tanners and handicrafters and learned about how to tan and craft with all parts of the reindeer hide, furs, and antlers. The Movement fund also provided the base funding for Garrett Iĝayux̂ to obtain his diploma in traditional reindeer tanning methods while abroad. A history-making action as he is now the first certified Unangan reindeer tanner in the history of the Aleutian and Pribilof islands.

Their trip even led to a meeting with the Queen of Norway, who personally thanked ua for our work to strengthen ties between Alaska and Norway.

Upon returning to St. Paul, we established a tannery in their backyard where local hunters, who once threw away their reindeer pelts, are now donating them to Tukuuludaa to become textiles. We organized a culture camp to teach locals how to tan and craft with reindeer which was attended by over 10% of the island population, and received a satisfaction rate of 100% on their culture camp feedback form. What began as a dream is now a sustainable community resource—supporting cultural self-expression, environmental stewardship, and intergenerational knowledge sharing on St. Paul Island.