National chief says she was 'stunned,' calls for change after headdress taken from her on flight

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Wood‐ house Nepinak says at‐ tempts by Air Canada staff to take her headdress from her on Wednesday have created "a pivotal learning moment in history."

Woodhouse Nepinak is calling for change after the sacred item was taken from her on a flight between Mon‐ treal and Fredericton, while saluting people who tried to come to her aid in a distress‐ ing situation.

"I want to focus on mak‐ ing sure that First Nations can come through our air‐ port and our airlines, all air‐ lines, Air Canada included, in a safe way, in a respectful way," she said Friday morn‐ ing.

"I've always felt apprehen‐ sive about taking [the head‐ dress] on with me, and I don't want to feel like that anymore."

Woodhouse Nepinak had travelled before with the headdress, which she re‐ ceived from the Blackfoot Confederacy of the Piikani Nation in Alberta in a cere‐ mony on Jan. 1, without any problems, she told the CBC's Karen Pauls Friday morning in her first interview about what happened.

WATCH | Anger after Air Canada staff try to take AFN chief's headdress:

She got on a plane in Montreal on Wednesday evening with her headdress in a special carrying case. She usually places the case in the overhead compartment, but this time had carry-on lug‐ gage that she put overhead, so she stowed the case un‐ der the seat in front of her.

Everything seemed fine, but then "something just changed," she said.

"It got really bizarre."

Flight staff told Wood‐ house Nepinak the case had to go into the cargo hold and took it from her, she said.

"I was kind of stunned," she said.

"Some of our teachings teach us" a headdress is "like your child, like your baby. It's with you. It's part of you" and should be handled with the respect people might give a Bible, holy oil or hijab, she said.

The interaction "got pretty heated," but flight staff insis‐ ted on putting the case in what Woodhouse Nepinak described as garbage bags and taking it away to stow with cargo.

Before they did, she re‐ moved the headdress from the case and held it on her lap during the flight.

When flight staff did not return the case to her at the end of the flight, the pilot in‐ tervened and it was brought to her, she said.

WATCH: | National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak describes what happened when airline staff took her headdress's case:

She was seated near the front of the plane and was embarrassed by what had unfolded in front of all the other passengers.

She said she takes her re‐ sponsibility as national chief seriously and is careful to represent First Nations well, so didn't want to say any‐ thing that could create a neg‐ ative impression.

"But I have to say, there's Canadians from all walks of life kind of sitting in the plane that were pretty astounded, and I was glad to see that, because it's not like people just sat there and were quiet. People were genuinely trying to help."

The kindness and caring of her fellow passengers brings her hope, she said.

"I think they were trig‐ gered more than I was, and I think that says something for our country, that we are mov‐ ing in a right way," she said.

"But at the same time, these things continue to happen, and they remind us that we have more work to do."

Air Canada has issued a statement apologizing for what happened.

The airline is following up on the matter internally and will review its policies after the "regrettable incident," the statement said.

The plane in question was a Dash 8 and the case "was difficult to carry in the cabin due to stowage space limita‐ tions," the airline said Friday in response to questions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the flight crew's actions were unac‐ ceptable.

"From my perspective, that is an unfortunate situa‐ tion that I hope is going to lead to a bit of learning, not just by Air Canada, but a lot of different institutions," he said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he saw the nation‐ al chief at the Montreal air‐ port after the incident and expressed his support for her call to implement policies that ensure such a thing doesn't happen again.

"In a country like Canada, there are far too many exam‐ ples where Indigenous peo‐ ple are disrespected in this manner," he said.

The Assembly of Manito‐ ba Chiefs also called for cul‐ tural sensitivity training and awareness in the airline in‐ dustry.

The transfer of a head‐ dress is one of the highest honours within First Nations traditions, Manitoba Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said in an emailed statement.

WATCH | Cindy Wood‐ house Nepinak says her ex‐ perience on the Air Canada flight 'was just awful':

Knowledge keeper Leonard Weasel Traveller of Piikani First Nation in southern Alberta gave the golden eagle feather head‐ dress to Woodhouse Nepinak, and said he can on‐ ly imagine the hurt and feel‐ ing of violation she endured.

In Blackfoot culture, a feather hat represents their connection to nature and the animal kingdom, and it's giv‐ en to prominent leaders or individuals to enhance their presence, bring forth respect and give them confidence, he said.

Woodhouse Nepinak was given the headdress "to help her in her leadership with in‐

tegrity, honour, respect," he said.

He was shocked to hear what happened, because he's travelled with his own feath‐ er hat and it's never been an issue, he said.

'Mutual respect'

While what happened pained Woodhouse Nepinak, Weasel Traveller hopes it can bring about positive change.

"I feel that it was some‐ thing that needed to happen and it's something that can be very positive," he said.

"This can ... set the mo‐ tion in place for, you know, the airlines, Air Canada, WestJet, whomever, to have a, you know, an understand‐ ing of our way of life, our be‐ liefs, and have that mutual respect."

Woodhouse Nepinak said an Air Canada representative reached out to her directly, but it wasn't a person with decision-making authority. She plans to follow up Friday.

"I wanted to make sure that it was the president and CEO," she said.

Woodhouse Nepinak wan‐ ts Air Canada to commit to having a First Nations person with ties to a home commu‐ nity on the board of direc‐ tors, a face-to-face meeting between knowledge keepers and Air Canada's board of di‐ rectors and senior officials, a circle of Indigenous advisers, a protocol for First Nations people and cross-cultural training for staff, she said.

Since Wednesday, she's heard from other chiefs who have gone through similar is‐ sues while flying.

Phil Fontaine, who was the AFN's national chief from 1997-2000 and again from 2003-09, told her he had to deal with similar issues in his time.

"We are tired of dealing with the same things," and there needs to be change, said Woodhouse Nepinak.

"Sometimes Creator gives us things to take on, and sometimes they come through unfortunate situa‐ tions," she said.

"All that I ask is that we move in a better way with each other."