Chief says Air Canada offered discount after headdress mishandled
OTTAWA — After the Assembly of First Nations’ national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
“It must have been a generic response,” Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said, calling the entire experience “humiliating” and “unbelievable.”
Woodhouse Nepinak said in a social media post Thursday that her headdress and its case were taken and put in a garbage bag.
She clarified Friday the case was removed from the flight, but she was able to hold her headdress throughout the trip after pleading with staff.
Air Canada said in a statement on Friday that it contacted Woodhouse Nepinak directly to apologize and “better understand” her experience. It said it is following up on the matter internally and reviewing its policies.
During the flight from Fredericton to Montreal on Wednesday, the national chief said an Air Canada staff member approached her and said: “You can’t have that in here.”
Woodhouse Nepinak said she told them she wouldn’t part with her headdress.
But the crew took it and its case and put garbage bags around them, she said, before she managed to convince them that her headdress should be taken back out.
Photos that Woodhouse Nepinak posted online show the case covered in a clear plastic bag, with staff members hauling it on the tarmac to be loaded under the plane.
“I was kind of stunned at that moment,” she recounted.
“There was lots of Canadians trying to help me in that moment and realizing they shouldn’t be handling my items like that.”
“This was a mistake that I know Air Canada is looking into right now,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said about the incident during an unrelated news conference in Bromont, Que., on Friday.
“It is an unfortunate situation that I hope is going to lead to a bit of learning — not just by Air Canada, but a lot of different institutions.”
Trudeau said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action should prompt industry and Canadians to be responsible partners who have a sense of understanding about the cultural importance of items.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Toronto that he met Woodhouse Nepinak by chance at an airport in Montreal shortly after the incident, and she shared with him how she felt “disrespected.”
He said he supports calls from the national chief for a policy to ensure a similar situation never happens again, and added there are “far too many” examples of Indigenous Peoples being disrespected.
The grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Alvin Fiddler called the ordeal “shameful.”
Cody Thomas, the grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, said he was “deeply concerned and disappointed.”
“It is essential that employees are educated about the diverse cultures and traditions of the passengers they serve to ensure that such incidents are never repeated,” Thomas said in a statement.
Air Canada said it is looking to learn from the “regrettable incident” and ensure “special items such as this” can consistently remain in the cabin with travellers.
“Air Canada understands the importance of accommodating customers with items and symbols of sacred cultural significance,” the airline said. “In the past, the chiefs have been able to travel while transporting their headdress in their cases in the cabin, but this time the case was difficult to carry in the cabin due to stowage space limitations on the Dash-8 aircraft.”
Woodhouse Nepinak called her headdress one of the highest honours First Nations peoples can receive, noting it’s not something that can be bought in a store.
“When I wear it, I’m representing and speaking for our people,” she said.
“Taking it out there [on the plane [and having all these different people handling it — that’s not the way we handle our items. It’s a respect thing.”
Asked why she decided to speak publicly about the incident, Woodhouse Nepinak said this situation isn’t one she wants to be in, but “Creator put it on my lap to go through, and I’m walking through it hoping that we come out of this better.”