When I was in London, meeting Her Late Majesty, I bought a big hat for the occasion. As I approached the Air Canada desk at Heathrow to check in when we were leaving, I was told in no uncertain terms I could not bring my large hat box as carry on; it had to be checked.
Isn't my 'Queen Hat' in the same category as Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak's headdress? Obviously not because the airwaves have been full of outrage that Nepinak was initially told she had to check it. Nothing doing, said Nepinak. The fuss she kicked up forced the airline let her keep it during the flight.
OK, I get that it's considered sacred, but rules are rules. Except when they're not. When I told the Air Canada agent my hat had met the Queen, they all went crazy and insisted I model it right then and there, which I did -- to the annoyance of everyone in line behind me.
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| My famous "Queen Hat" |
Finally, she allowed me to bring the hat on board. "I'll just stow that with the captain's things," she whispered. But I hadn't made a fuss. I was just wondering how I would deal with the hat in cargo. Over the years, I've found that if you make a fuss, they dig in. Unless you're Indigenous, I guess.
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| Cindy and her headdress |
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More on the Indigenous file, there are now demands for more money to repatriate artifacts that had found their way to art galleries and museums around the world. Do you think housing them on local reserves is a better way to preserve and protect them than in a museum? Me neither. In any case, they're being ripped out of display cases and brought to Canada.
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| More more money |
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