Google Doodle celebrates Mary Two-Axe Earley who fought for the Canada's Indian Act against First Nations women

Mary Two-Axe Earley, was an Kanien’keháka (Mohawk) woman, from Kahnà:wake, Mohawk Territory. Two-Axe Earley, fought for over two decades against sex discrimination, in the Indian Act, which stripped First Nations women of their Indian status, (now referred to as First Nations), if they married non-Indian men. 

“First Nation”, is a term used to describe Aboriginal peoples of Canada, who are ethnically neither Métis nor Inuit. This term came into common usage, in the 1970s and '80s, and generally replaced the term “Indian”. 

Under the Indian Act , status Indians, also known as registered Indians, may be eligible for a range of benefits, rights, programs and services offered by the federal and provincial or territorial governments. 

Mary Two-Axe Earley, moved to New York, at 18, where she married an Irish-American engineer. Under the provisions of Canada’s Indian Act, her marriage to a non-Indigenous man, meant the loss of her Indian status. The laws, banned First Nations women and their children, who lost their status from living in their communities. 

In 1967, Two-Axe Earley, founded the Equal Rights for Indian Women organization. For decades, she fought for First Nations women’s rights. 

As a result, on 28 June, 1985, the Parliament of Canada, passed Bill C-31, an amendment to restore Indian status to women, who had lost it through marriage.  

One week later, Two-Axe Earley, became the first woman to have her Indian status reinstated. 

Two-Axe Earley, received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, in 1996, for her lifetime devotion to human rights.