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

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says attempts 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 Montreal and Fredericton, while saluting people who tried to come to her aid in a distressing situation.

"I want to focus on making sure that First Nations can come through our airport and our airlines, all airlines, Air Canada included, in a safe way, in a respectful way," she said Friday morning.

"I've always felt apprehensive about taking [the headdress] on with me, and I don't want to feel like that anymore."

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

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 luggage that she put overhead, so she stowed the case under the seat in front of her.

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

"It got really bizarre."

Flight staff told Woodhouse 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 insisted on putting the case in what Woodhouse Nepinak described as garbage bags and taking it away to stow with cargo.

Before they did, she removed 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 intervened and it was brought to her, she said.