“Mary is such an important person in Canadian history,” said Courtney Montour, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) film producer from Kanawak, south of Montreal.

“It’s time to make her story more widely known.”

June 28 is the 36th year since the C-31 Act was approved by the Royal Family in 1985. The Act amended the Indian Act to allow two axe Erli and thousands of other indigenous women who lost their status due to their long-term sex And their children regain their identities. -Discrimination within the bill.

Before 1985, Indian women who married unidentified men lost their status and their children were also deprived of their status. The status of Indians is almost entirely passed down through men.

Two Axe Erli died in 1996 at the age of 84.Montour self-written and directed documentary Mary Two Axe Erli: I am Indian again, The first film documenting her life and legacy, premiered at the Hot Docs Festival this spring. The two come from the same community, as do the graffiti artists.

The Star Horn illustration features a portrait of Erli with two axes, which contains detailed symbols and images of Kanien’kehá:ka culture. The rapids are named after Kahnawake, with birch bark, floral beading, and sky dome as a tribute to the creative story and remind people that she has influenced countless women in Canada.

“I hope her family is proud of it,” Horn said.

“I want them to know how important she is and what she means to everyone. I want people to know her influence.”

Google has created more than 4,000 doodles for its homepages around the world.

“In addition to trying to surprise and happy Canadians, we also tried to use it as a mechanism to start a conversation, to reflect Canada to Canadians, and to educate new people they might not know to be a very influential leader , Such as Mary Two Axe Earley,” said Google Canada spokesperson Alexandra Klein.

Two-Axe Earley helped establish the Indian Women’s Equality Organization and was a founding member of the Quebec Aboriginal Women’s Association. She spent most of her life fighting against gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

According to many indigenous women activists, this struggle is still ongoing.

The national investigation of missing and murdered Aboriginal women recognizes that gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act is one of the root causes of violence faced by aboriginal women in Canada, and calls for the elimination of the remaining discrimination in the Act.

For Montour, Google Doodle will help make Erli’s story easier to understand.

Montour said: “This is very important, it will cover the whole of Canada.”

“I just want more people to know her name and understand that this is not a thing of the past. There is more work to be done.”