We got an email from one of our visitors who lives in Florida, she was intrigued by the hide dresses of the Indian women and asked if by any chance they washed them, and if, then how?
Our historian Jim Hardee helped us reply to her in telling us the Yucca root is just one of the many soaps for washing buckskin. If there was a great deal of decoration, then it was washed around it. The main reason buckskin is smoked is so that it can be washed and used in bad weather without fear of hardening up when dry. That will happen some, but rubs out for a better hide with each washing. Also white clay balls rub out those stubborn stains. An interesting laundry procedure we thought you all might enjoy