You can use soap or eggs or a combination of both if you don't want to use the animal's brains.
www.braintan.com is a good place to start. Also go visit
Paleo Planet for plenty more information and tutorials on leather, tanning, buckskin and rawhide.
As for materials, and chemicals and such, you may need to import them from across the big pond. But if you do it the traditional way, you won't need a great deal that you don't already have.
You'll need a fleshing beam for larger hides (you can make one with a 1m length of plastic drainpipe filled with sand and capped off at both ends. This is propped up on crossed poles at one end and the other end rests on the ground).
You'll need a scraper to remove the gunk (you can use an old dull drawknife or even a sharpened deer leg bone).
You'll need some plastic buckets to soak the hide in.
You'd be well advised to get a book on braintanning as well, or one of the many videos showing you the technique. You can get most stuff from braintan.com.
Eric