Mary Two-Axe Earley

Mary Two-Axe Earley OQ (born Mary Two-Axe; October 4, 1911 – August 21, 1996) was a Mohawk woman from the reserve of Kahnawake, Quebec. She worked as an indigenous women's rights activist against the gender discrimination that lost indigenous women "status" under the Indian Act. Her work eventually lead to the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985, an amendment to the Indian Act to correct gender discrimination.[1] Mary was a powerful speaker at several conferences, commissions and hearings worldwide in her pursuit of justice, basic human rights, and the equality of women before the law. Mary valued the traditions and welfare of Aboriginal communities before anything else.[1]

Mary Two-Axe Earley
Born
Mary Two-Axe

(1911-10-04)October 4, 1911.
Kahnawake
DiedAugust 21, 1996(1996-08-21) (aged 84)
NationalityMohawk
OccupationIndigenous Women's Rights Activist

Early life

Mary Two-Axe was born on October 4, 1911, on the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake (then known as Caughnawaga).[2] Her father, Dominic Onenhariio Two-Axe, was a Mohawk, while her mother, Juliet Smith, was an Oneida nurse and teacher.[3] When Mary Two-Axe was only 10, her mother died of Spanish influenza while treating young flu patients in North Dakota,[4] and Two-Axe spent the rest of her childhood with her grandparents at Kahnawake.[3]

When Two-Axe was 18, she moved to Brooklyn, New York in search of work.[4] She married an Irish-American electrical engineer named Edward Earley in 1938,[5] and they had two children: Edward and Rosemary.[4] The family visited Kahnawake every summer.[3]

Activism

Due to legislation passed in 1876, the Indian Act treated men and women unequally under Canadian law. Although a First Nations man could marry a woman without Indian status and still retain his own legal Indian status under the Act, the same was not true for a First Nations woman. Because Two-Axe Earley had married a non-status man, she had been stripped of her Indian status and rights: she was prohibited from owning land on the Kahnawake reserve, participating in reserve elections, or even being buried in the reserve cemeteries[2] – and she could not pass these rights down to her children, either.[4]

She had inherited a family home that she no longer was able to own, but was able to keep her home because her daughter had married a Mohawk man from the reserve. Two-Axe Earley had described herself as a "guest in her own home"[6] The council of Kahnawake tried to have her removed, so she began to lobby for changes to the Act. Two-Axe Earley's call for justice captured the attention of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1968.[7] This then led to a Commission recommendation in 1970 to amend the Indian Act in its treatment of women (because men who married non-status women got to keep their full status and pass it on to their children).[1] Also in 1968, Two-Axe Earley had created the "Equal Rights for Native Women" association to advocate for gender equality under the Indian Act, this organization went on to help form The Indian Rights for Native Women Association.[8]

At a first ministers conference in 1982, Two-Axe Earley sought a formal timeslot to speak about her cause but was denied permission. When he heard about it, Quebec Premier René Lévesque offered her his seat instead in support.[5]

On June 28, 1985, about 20 years after Two-Axe Earley began her activism, the Federal Government of Canada passed Bill C-31, which amended the Indian Act and brought it into accord with the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bill C-31 removed the long-standing gender discrimination policy endured by First Nations women by restoring Indian status and membership rights to the thousands of women who had married non-Indians/non-status persons.[6] Two-Axe Earley was the first woman to have her status reinstated by Indian Affairs Minister David Crombie.[1] The legislation made it possible for 16,000 other First Nations women and 46,000 descendants to regain their lost Indian status.[3]

Conflict with Kahnawake

In 1975, Mary was attending an International Women’s Year conference in Mexico. She learned that the Kahnawake band council had used the Indian Act to evict her while she was away. She had received a phone call from her daughter who told her that the reserve served her an eviction notice and that she had 60 days to leave. Mary then used the conference to tell the world about her plight, this gave her cause a storm of national and international publicity, and the eviction notice served by Kahnawake was eventually withdrawn.[6]

Awards and honours

In 1979, for her contributions to women's rights and gender equality, Two-Axe Earley received the inaugural Governor General's Persons Case Award. In 1981, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from York University.[2] In 1985, she was inducted into the Order of Quebec as an Officer.[4]

In 1996, Two-Axe Earley received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for her work towards the passing of Bill C-31.[1]

Death

On August 21, 1996, Two-Axe Earley died from respiratory failure, aged 84. She was buried in the Catholic cemetery of the Kahnawake reserve – a personal wish made possible by the legal changes she had enabled.[4]

References
  1. "Indspire | Mary Two-Axe Earley". Indspire.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  2. Brown, Wayne (November 2003). "Mary Two-Axe Earley: Crusader for Equal Rights for Aboriginal Women". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  3. Forster, Merna (2011). "Mary Two-Axe Early: Set My Sisters Free". 100 More Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces. Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-4597-0086-4.
  4. Robinson, Amanda (March 23, 2017). "Mary Two-Axe Earley". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  5. "Native Rights Activist Dies at 84". Whitehorse Daily Star. 1996-08-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  6. "Mary Two-Axe Earley - Footprints | Windspeaker". AMMSA.com. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  7. "Indigenous Women's Rights – Rise Up!". riseupfeministarchive.ca. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  8. "Femmes autochtones du QuĂŠbec | Femmes autochtones du QuĂŠbec". Faq-qnw.org. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
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