OCTOBER 4, 1911

MOHAWK NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVOCATE MARY TWO-AXE EARLEY BORN

Mary, born on Kahnawà:ke Reserve (KR), Quebec (QC), fought injustices faced by Indian women under Canada’s Indian Act (Act). While Indian women with “Status” (legal Indian status in Canada) lost Status rights by marrying non-Status men, this was not true for Status men. In 1969, her non-Status husband died and she had to transfer title to her house to her daughter (married to a Status man) to return to the reserve. In 1974, Mary co-founded the QC Native Women’s Association. In 1975, while she and other KR women were at the International Women’s Year Conference in Mexico City, the band council served them with eviction notices. When Mary made the evictions an international issue, the council withdrew the notices. In 1985, the Act was amended to provide for reinstatement for women who had lost their Status (including Mary). Awards: Governor General’s Persons Case Award (1979); Officer, National Order of QC (1985); and Aboriginal Achievement Award (1996). Mary died August 21 1996, on KR. 

Source:
  Amanda Robinson, “Mary Two-Axe Early, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 3/23/2017.  Retrieved 3/23/2022, Mary Two-Axe Earley | The Canadian Encyclopedia
Photo:  Padraic Ryan, 11/11/2007.  Aboriginal War Veterans Monument, Ottawa, Canada.  Permissive Use.