Air Canada apologizes to national chief after flight crew took her headdress away

Air Canada says it's sorry after staff tried to stow away the headdress of the Assembly of First Nations' national chief in cargo stor‐ age before the departure of a flight Wednesday.

The company said in a statement Thursday it's apol‐ ogizing to National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who said on social media Thursday she was forced to hand over a case containing the headdress that was with her in the plane's cabin.

"I won't be letting anyone take away my headdress or case again," Woodhouse Nepinak said on a public Facebook post, ahead of a different flight to Montreal.

"Air Canada needs a pro‐ tocol for First Peoples so that we are not harassed for our sacred items. Our head‐ dresses don't belong in [garbage] bags by airlines."

CBC News contacted Woodhouse Nepinak, but she was still in transit and wasn't ready to talk at length about the incident Thursday night.

The national chief said staff wanted to put her head‐ dress in cargo storage be‐ cause there was no room at the cabin, and that the situa‐ tion got tense. She said the flight crew threatened her staff, and that other passen‐ gers stood up for her.

She said the case was put in a plastic bag. The pilot came out and brought the case back after she com‐ plained, she said.

Woodhouse Nepinak said she normally travels with the headdress on her lap, or in carry-on storage.

Air Canada said in a state‐ ment it's reached out to the national chief to "better un‐ derstand and apologize for her experience."

"Air Canada understands the importance of accommo‐ dating customers with items and symbols of sacred cultur‐ al significance, and in the past the chiefs have been able to travel while transport‐ ing their headdresses in the cabin," the statement said.

The airline added it's fol‐ lowing up on the matter in‐ ternally, and will be reviewing its policies after the "regret‐ table incident."

Incident 'unacceptable,' minister says

Federal Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez said what happened is "unac‐ ceptable" and the govern‐ ment "expects Air Canada to treat Indigenous customers with respect and promote better Indigenous cultural di‐ versity."

Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, called out Air Canada on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, saying the incident was "shameful" and the company needs to en‐ sure staff follow protocols on sacred items.

David Lametti, who was the federal justice minister when Canada adopted the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2021, told CBC News in an interview the incident left him "stunned."

"There aren't many chiefs across Canada who would have that kind of headdress," said Lametti, who now works as a lawyer specializing in In‐ digenous law.

"It is critically important that it be treated as a sacred object, and I don't under‐ stand why this would have been treated with anything less than the appropriate amount of dignity that it de‐ serves."

Woodhouse Nepinak, from Pinaymootang First Na‐ tion in Manitoba, was elected national chief last December.

She received the head‐ dress during a New Year's Day ceremony by the Black‐ foot Confederacy of the Pi‐ ikani Nation in Alberta for her national leadership, and her work championing a his‐ toric settlement on Indige‐ nous child welfare.

The Assembly of First Na‐ tions said in a release then the headdress transfer is one of the "highest honours among First Nations cere‐ monies for leadership," and the eagle feathers that make up the headdress have been "blessed to help support leadership in their travels and challenges."