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LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Belinda Gully learned how to sew while growing up on the land with her grandmother, but as she grew older she began to forget.

"I guess there's just a big blank," said the mother of four, who moved to Norman Wells in 2007.

"I forgot my own traditional ways, but once I see it I can remember it, and it just slowly comes back, right from my grandma."

In an effort to retain her skills - and have a little fun - Gully has been volunteering with the Norman Wells sewing circle for the past two years. She first joined to learn more, and now is there to help other women with their projects.

"I ended up teaching instead of learning," she said.

Every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., approximately 30 women meet at the church in town, but since mid-January they have moved to Aurora College where they have more room.

Students, elders, bank employees, health centre workers and other residents make up the mix, and serve as each other's company as they cut patterns, sew and share stories.

"It's just all about how to treat your moosehide, your beaver pelt. There's certain ways to cut it. You can't just cut it any way. You're getting it from the land. It's so sacred. It's so sacred to us," Gully said.

"A long time ago when natives didn't know anything about money, it used to be about trading, and that's what I want to teach the sewing circle about. It's not all about money. It's about the kindness you have in your heart."

Gully said sewing has always been a part of her life, and admits that once she starts, she has trouble putting down the needle and thread.

"I've always done it and I've always seen it," she said. "It's just one of the things that you can't, once you start sewing, you can't stop. Honestly, you can't stop. You gotta keep doing it until you've finished."

This year Gully is planning on doing something a little different. In place of the sewing circle, she wants to start a group that will treat moosehide from scratch and use the materials for traditional clothing.

She hopes to smoke it on the shores of the Mackenzie River and open her living room to a new group.

"I'll have a tarp out and start from there," she said, adding that her mother Cam Rabisca might offer guidance.

At the beginning, the group will need to meet every day to treat the hide, and in the summer they can start on projects.

Gully said she hopes her passion for sewing and pride for her work will one day become a passion and source of pride for her children, too.

"It's so important. It's so important for anybody to sew. You make your own clothes, you can make something nice that you can show off, and tell everyone, 'I made it.'"

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