About Our Sheepskins

At Heirloom, we believe in having slow, storied items that adorn our homes and our lives. We put in the extra work to make sure our products are sourced from the highest quality, organically raised animals and tanned in a way that is respectful of the earth and gentle on our living environments. Each one of our hides is naturally tanned, non-toxic, washable and biodegradable.

We select and hand-tan all of our hides at our small-scale tannery in Colorado, giving it the feel of a one-of-a-kind item that will last a lifetime.

We mostly tan the hides of a breed of sheep called Navajo-Churro. This is the first breed to be introduced to the America’s from Spain in the 1540’s, originally landing near Mexico City and then traveling north into the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. Navajo-Churro sheep became a very large part of Native culture in the southwest; providing meat, milk and exceptional wool fiber for the famous Navajo Rugs of the Four-Corners Region. Sadly, Navajo-Churro’s were almost wiped into extinction by the United States government throughout 1900’s, to the point where there were only 500 animals left in 1972. The recovery efforts to protect one of the hardiest, most well adapted livestock breeds in the region has been slow but successful, and mostly credited to the Native communities who bravely kept alive this rare gem of a breed.

By purchasing one of our hides, you’re stepping into a storied legacy and supporting recovery efforts of a critically important breed by supporting ranchers keeping these sheep alive. We also send a yearly donation to a Native-run organization to continue this work.

Our hides are organically tanned using only tree bark, olive oil, egg yoke and biodegradable soap.