An economically balanced community offers work in both industrial and service sectors. Yet many northern communities, despite being surrounded by natural resources, are reliant on service jobs and have no full time secondary processing nor do they have sustainable industries. I had discovered that a textile, moufflibou , could be made from caribou hair. This discovery had the potential to form the basis of a northern textile and outerwear cottage industry. I wondered if such a locally-owned, sustainable cottage industry might change the economic balance in a northern Canadian community. With my adult education background, I began a two-part case study, using this sustainable industry as a learning vehicle with a participatory research and training approach. The long-term goal was to facilitate the transfer of technology and responsibility to the community under a licensing arrangement. However, I encountered difficulties introducing this concept to an aboriginal First Nations community despite various efforts. This introduction, the first part of my study, included meetings, workshops, and public meetings, plus the formation of an interested community group. This approach did not result in the industry going ahead in the First Nations community. Three years later, individual and group interviews were held with various levels of power within the community to reflect on the factors that were involved. From these meetings and interviews, I was able to acquire a deeper contextual understanding of community factors and issues. One factor was the discrepancy in vision between the grass roots community members and the community leaders on what economic development was and how it should occur. Another was how change and dominant society pressure impact on the Cree community. Another factor was learning just how complex dealing with a First Nations community can be.The second component of this case study was in a neighbouring settler community, where I used the same participatory animateur approach with the same industry. After 2 1/2 years, the industry has signs that portent success and, despite challenges, the participatory learning/animateur activities may have led to group empowerment (although only time will clarify that), whereas the aboriginal cross-cultural attempt failed. I analyze the different results. I identify the areas I now know need to be considered when proposing an industry to a northern community, and offer conclusions and recommendations based on my study.