CA-K140Indigenous peoples & reconciliation

Mary Two-Axe Earley and First Nations women’s equality

Kahnawà:ke seen from Lachine, Montréal, in 2016. Kahnawake vue de Montréal 1 · Red Castle · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.

Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

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Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911–1996), a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) woman born in Kahnawà:ke, campaigned against the sex discrimination in section 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act, which stripped First Nations women of status if they married non-status men. After the Act was changed in 1985, she was the first person to regain her status.

Scope & context

Her advocacy and the 1985 change, not every later amendment to Indian Act registration rules.

Sources behind this record

Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911–1996) National Historic Person ↗

Parks Canada

Historical importance; plaque text