In August 2006, five members of the Conservation Department of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian travelled to South Dakota to participate in a workshop on brain-tanning buffalo hide. Steven Tamayo, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, arranged the workshop through the Sinte Gleska University (SGU), on the Rosebud Reservation. In conjunction with the workshop, the conservators met with the Lakota Studies professors at SGU and visited the university’s Bison Ranch. This article conveys how the events that led to the formation of the workshop, and the cumulative experiences of a week spent on the Rosebud Reservation with Steven Tamayo and his family, have made a significant impact on all involved.