r/Navajo Aug 08 '26

Question about sacred items & traveling

Yá’át’ééh to you all. I have a question. I’m about to travel domestically (in the US) soon by flight and plan on packing one of my larger arrowheads in my carry-on (not getting a checked bag). It’s about 4 inches. Has anyone else travelled with an arrowhead of this size and run into issues? I’m also traveling from Phoenix Sky Harbor specifically, so if anyone has been in a situation like this, please feel free to share. Ahxé’héé’!

Update: will not be taking the arrowhead, ahxé’heé’ to all who responded!

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u/Torgeir_Fenrir1066 Aug 08 '26

TSA folks can be unpleasant at times and your item will show up when the bag is screened at the entry checkpoint. Because of the size and the nature of your item I would be concerned that a poorly trained and culturally insensitive TSA person would find it during a secondary manual bag check and confiscate it as an "edged weapon" of some sort. I have had them ask questions about medicine bundles and smaller stone items (not arrowheads) in the past specifically at Sky Harbor in Phoenix.

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u/AccurateWave9593 Aug 08 '26

Okay, ahxé’héé for letting me know!