Mary Two-Axe Earley

Because Mary Two-Axe Earley had married a "non-status" man – a man who had no legal Indian status under Canadian law – she was consequently stripped of her own Indian status.[3] The Indian Act, drawn from Victorian-era European notions around gender and power, treated First Nations men and women unequally: although a man could marry a non-status woman and still retain his own legal Indian status under the Act, the same was not true for a woman who married a non-status man.[1] When Two-Axe Earley had married Edward Earley, she had lost 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[1] – and she could not pass these rights down to her children, either.[3]

During the early years of her marriage, Two-Axe Earley did not have strong feelings about the loss of her status, as she was living a happy life with her husband and children.[5] Over time, however, she saw the emotional impacts of the discriminatory law on her female friends. In 1966, one friend – a fellow Mohawk – died of a heart attack in Two-Axe Earley's arms.[3] The woman had been forced to move out of Kahnawake, her home taken away because of the Indian Act, and Two-Axe Earley was convinced that the intense stress of these losses had contributed to her friend's death.[2][3]

Deeply impacted by the loss of her friend, Two-Axe Earley began campaigning across Canada to call attention to the issue.[3] In 1967,[6] she founded the provincial Equal Rights for Indian Women Association (later Indian Rights for Indian Women), which grew to become a national organization.[1] After contacting Senator Thérèse Casgrain – a known advocate for women's rights – Two-Axe Earley was encouraged to submit a brief to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.[5] Despite pressure from members of the Kahnawake reserve who wanted her to stop campaigning,[1] she led a group of 30 Mohawk women to speak before the Commission,[2] and the Commission subsequently made a formal recommendation that the Indian Act be amended so that all First Nations people "should enjoy the same rights and privileges in matters of marriage and property as other Canadians,” regardless of gender.[7]

Two-Axe Earley was faced with heavy opposition from male First Nations leaders during her work. Some suggested that changing the Indian Act to restore lost status and rights to women and their children – allowing them to return to their original communities – would put too much financial strain on First Nations reserves.[7] Some also expressed fears that permitting First Nations women to marry non-Indigenous men without penalty could result in the gradual erosion of Indigenous culture and autonomy in Canada.[1]

In 1969, Two-Axe Earley's husband died, and she decided to move back to her old community in Quebec.[2] Although Two-Axe Earley had inherited a house on the Kahnawake reserve from her grandmother, she was told that she was no longer welcome to live there. She found a way around the rules by gifting the house to her daughter, who had regained Indian status after marrying a Mohawk man from the reserve. Only permitted to live there through this loophole, Two-Axe Earley described herself as "a guest in my own house".[1]

Two-Axe Earley co-founded the Québec Native Women's Association in 1974.[3] The following year, alongside 60 other women originally from the Kahnawake reserve,[8] she attended the International Women's Year Conference in Mexico as a member of the Canadian delegation.[9] While at the conference, she learned that the band council had taken advantage of her absence from Kahnawake to use the Indian Act to formally evict her. Two-Axe Earley used her platform at the conference to publicize her situation, subsequently receiving national and international attention, and the eviction notice served by Kahnawake was subsequently withdrawn.[1] In 1976, she was elected to the newly-formed Board of Directors for the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women.[9]

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, Quebec Premier René Lévesque provided his support by offering her his seat instead.[4] The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed into law later that year, and the cause of Indigenous gender equality subsequently gained additional momentum.[7]

On June 28, 1985, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-31 to amend the Indian Act. The Bill removed the legal gender discrimination that had impacted Indigenous women in their choice of husband, and allowed women who had been stripped of their Indian status to regain it through a process of reinstatement.[1][3] Two-Axe Earley was the first woman to have her status reinstated by Indian Affairs Minister David Crombie.[10]

The changed legislation made it possible for 16,000 other First Nations women and 46,000 descendants to regain their lost Indian status.[2] Among these people, nearly 2000 women became eligible to return to Kahnawake, an influx that prompted new community discussion – at times divisive – around membership eligibility and use of resources.[11]

Some reserves simply continued refusing to allow women to return, despite their restored legal status. In 1993, several First Nations groups brought their opposition to court, arguing that the Federal government did not have the right to influence who was eligible for band membership.[2] In December of that year, despite health problems, 82-year-old Two-Axe Earley provided her personal testimony to the court case as a witness for the Native Council of Canada, describing the negative impact of the old Indian Act on First Nations Women. The court decided that Bill C-31 would stand.[1]