Indigenous sacred items still 'manhandled' despite new airport security protocols, says passenger

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) launched a new protocol for passengers travelling with sacred and spiritual items in 2022 but some Indigenous people say they're still experiencing hassles at airport screenings.

Kelly Lavallee, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, said she travels regularly between Billy Bishop airport in Toronto and Thunder Bay with cultural items such as medicines and eagle feathers, which she puts in her carry-on luggage. 

"My items were manhandled. It was like show and tell for them," she said of an experience she had in Thunder Bay in May.

"It took about over an hour. Our flight was delayed."

Video reviewed by CBC Indigenous showed Lavallee's items being X-rayed by three screening officers.

She said she told the staff they were not to touch her items. Lavallee said she was told they had received cultural training and could touch anything they wanted if they believed there were safety issues involved. 

Lavallee said she told the staff she felt having her sacred items treated this way was "disgraceful" and "a dishonour" to them. She said a few days training to learn an "entire worldview of people" is insufficient, based on their actions.

Lavallee said it wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Every time I go through the airport, I have a heightened sense of anxiety because of it," she said. 

She said she will be escalating the issue with CATSA.

Passengers have options

Suzanne Perseo, a spokesperson for CATSA, said in an email that she couldn't comment on Lavallee's experiences but that CATSA trains screening officers to provide passengers with options to minimize the likelihood of officers handling sacred and spiritual items. 

"If an item alarms, including a spiritual or sacred item, the alarm must be resolved," Perseo's email said. 

"When a spiritual or sacred item is recognized by the screening officer or identified by the passenger, screening officers are instructed to work with the passenger to ensure that these items are screened with the utmost sensitivity and respect."

Perseo said complaints are reviewed and investigated and if an "issue is identified and substantiated through the complaint process, corrective measures may be applied, including coaching or additional training."

She said screening officers are employees of the contracted security firms Paladin and GardaWorld. 

So far 10,000 CATSA employees have received Indigenous cultural awareness training with 40 more in-person sessions planned for the fall, according to Heather Watts, president and partner with First Peoples Group, an Indigenous consulting firm based out of Ottawa. 

Watts said First Peoples Group has worked closely with CATSA to develop its screening processes. She said passengers have options when travelling with sacred and spiritual items in their carry-on luggage.

"It doesn't mean you have to kind of like pass over everything or it has to always go through X-ray," she said.

"There's even consideration around if someone were to be your facilitator and help you through this screening process." 

A facilitator is essentially a helper who will support the passenger through the screening process, she said.

Watts advised requesting a helper at the beginning when your boarding pass is scanned and to disclose your sacred items, but this can be requested at any time before the item goes through X-ray.

CATSA is in the process of introducing a new facilitator role at Canada's largest airports — a dedicated customer service professional who has received Indigenous cultural awareness learning — to assist all passengers, Perseo said.

Watts said it's important that Indigenous passengers know there is a protocol in place so they are not intimidated about travelling with items like pipes.

"I think for some folks, they feel this tension of, you know, 'Do I have to leave my pipe at home if I'm going to travel somewhere or do I have to put it in checked baggage?' which feels kind of like 'I'm distanced from that item,' right?"  

Perseo recommended visiting the CATSA's website or calling for further clarification.

Marked improvement

Greg Dreaver, from Mistawasis in Treaty 6 territory in Saskatchewan, said he spends most of his time in Ottawa and said he's seen a marked improvement in domestic airport screening in recent years. 

When he travelled for work in the early '90s, Dreaver said "my braid would have to be unbraided," adding that felt like a violation. 

"To have some stranger ruffle through your hair, tell you to take out your braid now, you know, or take you into another room just because you're the Native in the freaking lineup. Yeah, I went through it all." 

He said the experience of Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak earlier this year travelling with her headdress shed light on the issue.

On a recent trip through the Halifax airport, Dreaver said he had glass jars containing pulverized medicines such as sage and cedar in his carry-on luggage.

"They went the extra mile to really ask, to really inquire in a good way, you know," he said. 

"They didn't violate my space."

Dreaver said he knows his rights and what he carries is a part of who he is.

"They mess with the wrong Indian when they mess with this guy …They mess with all my ancestors," he said. 

"Look the heck out, all your security guards, because you're going to get educated."