World Shakers by Helen Wolfe

Author:Helen Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 2023-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Mary Two-Axe Earley

Set My Sisters Free

As we get older, we naturally become more curious about our identities. As we celebrate holidays and other special days with our families, we gain a deeper, more complex understanding of our family history, culture, traditions, and religion, and we tend to appreciate them much more. We experience and witness life cycle events such as births, maturation, marriages, and deaths of those we care deeply about. If we’re fortunate, older family members become our mentors, guiding us to that deeper understanding. They also relate fascinating stories about our ancestors, which enrich our appreciation of our place in the world.

But sometimes we are at risk of losing key aspects of our identities because of circumstances beyond our control. In some countries in Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe, people from specific cultural groups have been stripped of their identities when the government in power discriminates against their customs, religion, skin color, or political beliefs. These governments may stop them from living where they choose, getting an education, practicing their religions, having good jobs, and exercising their right to vote. Women all over the world have been denied their human rights and identities because governments and cultures consider them less worthy than men. Canada is an example of a democratic country that claims that people from all backgrounds are free to be who they are and celebrate their cultures and identities. Yet being denied her true identity happened to Mary Two-Axe Earley, an Indigenous woman who fought the Canadian government to regain her legal status under the Indian Act.

Mary Two-Axe was born in 1911 on Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, a Haudenosaunee reserve near Montreal, Quebec. As a child, she lived with both her grandmother and her mother, who was an Oneida teacher and a nurse, dedicated to taking care of sick people in her community. As the original peoples of this land, there are Indigenous Nations and communities in every part of the country. Some Indigenous people live in urban centers like Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, while others live in rural areas or on reserves. Reserves are sections of land that were selected by the Canadian government for First Nations to live on. Following the early stages of colonization and the establishment of the British Dominion of Canada in 1867, the government wanted to secure ownership of the land out of fear of American expansion into the country. This resulted in a series of treaty negotiations between First Nations and the government. Although some Nations received payment for their land, it was typically a very small amount, and overall, this process of land transfer could better be described as a land surrender. Some reserves were created when First Nations negotiated these treaties with the government, in an effort to secure land, health care, and education for their people. But, even if a First Nation did not sign a treaty, the government forced them onto a reserve anyway. This was especially the case in British Columbia, where First Nations did not negotiate with the government and very little land was officially surrendered.

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