Page 35 - 2019 MAR/APR Outdoor Oklahoma

DON P. BROWN/ODWC

Jayne Detten, assistant director of Marland’s Grand Home in Ponca City, talks with Emily Clark, big game technician with the Wildlife Department,
about the deerskin bag she created for the Ponca City Indian Museum.
“I enjoy learning how Native Americans lived and the Department and we are proud to have her.”
various skills they used because it’s not only fun, but I feel Clark’s skins and artifacts may be seen at the Marland
I can honor my Native ancestry through understanding Grand Home museum in Ponca City. Detton said three
their way of life and passing on those skills so they’re not rooms in the home house oilman E.W. Marland’s personal
lost to the ages.” collection of American Indian items, mostly dating from the
Not only did she re-create the artifacts, she had to be late 1800s and early 1900s. He gave his collection to the city
sure they were functional. “After I made all the tools, I used in 1926. The museum at 1000 E. Grand Ave., is open from 10
them to authenticate them. I actually tried out the fish hook a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and admission
and caught a fish!” She also uses her traditional talents to is $3 for students and $5 for adults. Visitors will also see
create useful items for herself. She’s used buckskin to cre- exhibits about the 101 Ranch and oil industry history, along
ate an arrow quiver and moccasin boots that she wears. with period furnishings from the early 1900s.
She’s working on buckskin pants and jacket right now. Clark can normally be seen in her booth at the annual
But Clark’s creations are more than just artifacts, said Wildlife Expo, presented by the Wildlife Department each
Detton, a former public school art teacher. “Emily is very September at the Lazy E Arena near Guthrie. She demon-
artistic and exacting with her work. What she ended up strates the process of making buckskin from deer hide
producing is very finely done, and there is some skill for Expo visitors.
there. She’s so knowledgeable for a young person.” But don’t make the innocent mistake of assuming that
Wildlife Department Programs Supervisor Jerry Shaw, buckskin comes only from a buck deer. “That’s a common
who works closely with Clark in deer management, misconception,” she said. Most any animal with a work-
described the young wildlife tech as a truly unique per- able hide can yield buckskin; the term refers to part of
son. “She has developed a set of primitive crafting skills the process to produce it when the hide is soaked in an
long forgotten by the majority of modern society. She alkaline solution, called bucking, to make removal of hair
elevates many of those crafts to the level of art. and the top skin layer easier.
“She is selfless in her willingness to share knowledge She’s not only a craftsman and artist, but a teacher
with others. Emily is a fantastic ambassador for the as well.
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