Two-Axe Earley became the first woman to have her status restored, and thousands of other First Nations women and their descendants were granted the same opportunity to regain their lost legal and cultural identity under Canadian law.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

[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.

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.

[1] In 1979, for her contributions to women's rights and gender equality, Two-Axe Earley received the Governor General's Persons Case Award.

[3] Two-Axe Earley was a joint recipient of the 1990 Robert S. Litvack Award from McGill University in recognition of her contributions to "the defense of the rule of law and the protection of the individual against arbitrary power.