Gift of headdress to Pope draws condemnation from some First Nations people in Manitoba

Some members of First Nations in Manitoba say they're angry that Pope Francis was given a headdress as a gift following his apology on Monday for the role members of the Catholic Church played in Canada's residential school system.

After the Pope's apology in Maskwacis, Alta., Wilton Littlechild, honorary chief of Ermineskin First Nation, presented the pontiff with a headdress. The Pope wore the regalia over his traditional papal head covering until it was removed shortly after by a member of his staff.

"For them to gift [the Pope] this sacred item was disappointing," said Kevin Tacan, a knowledge keeper and spiritual advisor from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in western Manitoba.

"It's become a thing to recognize political leadership, and it's not meant to be that way."

Tacan said headdresses are traditionally earned by members who are doing significant work in service of the community. 

"[People] have to prove themselves constantly. They have to continue to prove themselves going into the future, that they still deserve to have it."

He also said there are protocols in place for spiritual leaders to take away a headdress if the recipient hasn't upheld their work. 

Tacan said because politicians and others like the Pope have been presented with sacred Indigenous items in the past, many people from the Dakota Nation believe the significance of the headdress has been diminished.

"People have started to say that the headdress doesn't mean anything anymore, that it's been tainted — tainted by politicians and people who just give it to anybody."

Others supported the idea of the gift.

Phil Fontaine, a residential school survivor who has served as both national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said Littlechild followed protocols in requesting permission to present the headdress. 

"He went to the elders. He went to the leadership and requested permission to present that gift. So [it was] entirely consistent with the way they followed their customs and protocol," Fontaine said.

Tacan acknowledges some, like Fontaine, support the gift, but he doesn't agree with them.

"I suppose [the Pope is] the leader for them. But I don't believe that the Pope is the leader for the rest of us," he said. "How do we invite the fox into the chicken coop and say, 'OK, you're the head rooster in here?' It doesn't work that way."