Jane Constance Cook (Ga’axstal’as) (1870–1951) was a

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

leader and activist of the Kwakwakaʼwakw people.

Biography

Ga’axstal’as was born in 1870 at Port Blakely in Puget Sound, Washington. She was the daughter of Gwayulalas, a Kwagu'l noblewoman from Tsaxis (Fort Rupert, British Columbia) and a European

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r William Gilbert. After her mother died, Ga’axstal’as returned to central coast villages and was educated by a missionary couple in 'Yalis (Alert Bay, BC). In 1888, Ga’axstal’as married Nage, Stephen Cook whose mother Kwak'waballas was from the Mowachaht and 'Namgis nations and whose father John Cook was an English ship builder. They had 16 children, ran a general store and a salmon saltery, and later, established a family commercial fishing fleet. Like many First Nation women of her time, Ga’axstal’as was a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

and throughout her life, she was called to comfort people who were dying. Ga’axstal’as was fluent in Kwak'wala and English. She became an official translator in the courts and at colonial meetings and she corresponded with colonial agents in the Anglican Church and all levels of the Department of Indian Affairs. As an activist for Indigenous rights, she wrote petitions and letters about injustices she witnessed. She testified before the

McKenna–McBride Royal Commission The Royal Commission on Indian Affairs (commonly known as the McKenna–McBride Commission; originally titled the Commission Respecting Indian Lands and Indian Affairs Generally in the Province of British Columbia) was a joint federal and provinc ...

, standing up with chiefs to make land claims and assert rights on their unceded territories in colonial British Columbia. Ga’axstal’as was the only woman to serve on the executive of the

Allied Tribes of British Columbia The Allied Tribes of British Columbia (ATBC) was an Indigenous rights organization formed following the First World War. There were 16 tribal groups involved, all focused on the issues of land claims and aboriginal title in British Columbia. In 1 ...

where she testified about racist medical care and advocated for adequate health care for indigenous people living with TB. Her activism extended to asserting rights for a commercial as well as food fishery. As someone living at the crossroads of customary ways and the drastic changes that colonial power brought to the people on the coast, Ga’axstal’as negotiated both worlds. She was part of a high-ranked, Kwakwakaʼwakw family and also an ardent Christian who was a leader in the Anglican Women Association in 'Yalis. She fought for recognition of Indigenous rights and she expressed criticism of some customary practices in her time, particularly as they affected women and girls in her family. Her complicated identities reflect the ways that colonialism imposed changes on all cultural systems. Epidemics had caused massive mortality among her people; colonial churches pressured conversion to Christianity (especially for women and girls); capitalist economies were overtaking traditional economies as First Nations were restricted from accessing their territories and technologies. Primary cultural institutions were in upheaval but they persisted. For Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples, the central institution of governance was the potlatch; a ritual site where marriages and diverse exchanges and transfers of symbolic and material property confer social status and other important things. Works that mention Ga’axstal’as often state that she supported the

potlatch ban The potlatch ban was legislation forbidding the practice of the potlatch passed by the Government of Canada, begun in 1885 and lasting until 1951. Some first Nations saw the law as an instrument of intolerance and injustice. "Second only to the ...

(1884-1951). Her criticism of some practices associated with "the custom" revolved around shifting gender relations as people were caught between customary marriage practices in the potlatch and colonial marriage laws; between customary forms of wealth and the imposed cash economy. Her objections were aimed at changing potlatch practices of her day. Ga’axstal’as's views changed as she witnessed persecution of potlatchers under colonial law. Later, Ga’axstal’as worked with potlatching chiefs, scripting a petition against the potlatch ban and she also advocated for a chief whose potlatch goods had been confiscated by the colonial government. Her context was one of rapid change and social upheaval. As a bilingual, literate, economically secure, high-ranking Kwakwakaʼwakw woman, Ga’axstal’as had a powerful place from which to speak. "But her location only enabled what was certainly a remarkable will to act and be heard."Standing Up with Ga’axstal’as, page 17.

''Standing up with G̲a'ax̱sta'las: Jane Constance Cook and the Politics of Memory, Church, and Custom.''

In 2012, the

University of British Columbia Press The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It is a mid-sized scholarly publisher, and the largest in Western Canada. The press is based in Vancouver, British Col ...

published ''Standing Up with G̲a'ax̱sta'las,'' (L. Robertson with Gixsam clan) a collaborative, intergenerational biography on her life and impact on future generations. The book was on the short list for the

François-Xavier Garneau Medal The ''François-Xavier Garneau Medal'' is a book prize awarded by the Canadian Historical Association. Awarded only every five years since it was first awarded in 1980, the CHA describes the Medal as its "most prestigious" prize, honouring "an outs ...

and received the

Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin (April 2, 1903 – July 10, 1988) was an American award-winning anthropologist, folklorist, and ethnohistorian. Her research and directorship of the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Research Project at Indiana University has been ...

Prize from the American Society for Ethnohistory, as well as the Aboriginal History Book Prize, the Clio Prize and the Canadian Committee on Women's and Gender History book award from the

Canadian Historical Association The Canadian Historical Association (CHA; , SHC) is a Canadian organization founded in 1922 for the purposes of promoting historical research and scholarship. It is a bilingual, not-for-profit, charitable organization, the largest of its kind in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Jane Constance 1870 births 1951 deaths 19th-century First Nations people 20th-century First Nations people First Nations activists Kwakwaka'wakw people