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E. Pauline Johnson
Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk stage name Tekahionwake (pronounced dageh-eeon-wageh, lit. 'double-life'), was a Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her father was a hereditary Mohawk chief, and her mother was an English immigrant.
Johnson's poetry was published in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. She was among a generation of widely-read writers who began to define Canadian literature. She was a key figure in the construction of the field as an institution and has made an indelible mark on Indigenous women's literature and theater.
Johnson was notable for her poems, short stories, and performances that celebrated her mixed-race heritage, drawing from both Indigenous and English influences. She is most known for her books of poetry The White Wampum (1895), Canadian Born (1903), and Flint and Feather (1912); and her collections of stories Legends of Vancouver (1911), The Shagganappi (1913), and The Moccasin Maker (1913). While her literary reputation declined after her death, since the late 20th century there has been a renewed interest in her life and works. In 2002, a complete collection of her known poetry was published, entitled E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake: Collected Poems and Selected Prose.
Emily Pauline Johnson was born on 10 March 1861 at Chiefswood, her family home on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario. She was the youngest of four children of Emily Susanna Howells Johnson, an English immigrant, and George Henry Martin Johnson, a Mohawk hereditary clan chief.
Her father worked as an interpreter, acting as a link between Mohawk communities, British officials, and representatives of the Canadian government. Because of this, the Johnson family held a prominent social position. Their home at Chiefswood received notable visitors, including the Governor General of Canada and inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
Johnson grew up in a household shaped by both Mohawk and Victorian English traditions. Her mother emphasized discipline, manners, and social presentation, while her father encouraged his children to understand and navigate both their Mohawk and English heritage.
Her early life was also shaped by differing systems of identity. Under Canadian law, the Johnson children were considered Mohawk and wards of the Crown. However, in Mohawk society, identity and clan membership were passed through the mother. As a result, Johnson and her siblings did not belong to a Mohawk clan and were excluded from some aspects of community and ceremonial life.
A sickly child, Johnson did not attend Brantford's Mohawk Institute, a residential school established in 1834. Her education was mostly at home and informal, derived from her mother, a series of non-Native governesses, a few years at the small school on the reserve, and self-guided reading in her family's expansive library. She read deeply in the works of Byron, Tennyson, Keats, Browning and Milton, and enjoyed reading tales about Indigenous people such as Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha and John Richardson's Wacousta. These informed her own literary and theatrical work.
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E. Pauline Johnson
Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk stage name Tekahionwake (pronounced dageh-eeon-wageh, lit. 'double-life'), was a Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her father was a hereditary Mohawk chief, and her mother was an English immigrant.
Johnson's poetry was published in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. She was among a generation of widely-read writers who began to define Canadian literature. She was a key figure in the construction of the field as an institution and has made an indelible mark on Indigenous women's literature and theater.
Johnson was notable for her poems, short stories, and performances that celebrated her mixed-race heritage, drawing from both Indigenous and English influences. She is most known for her books of poetry The White Wampum (1895), Canadian Born (1903), and Flint and Feather (1912); and her collections of stories Legends of Vancouver (1911), The Shagganappi (1913), and The Moccasin Maker (1913). While her literary reputation declined after her death, since the late 20th century there has been a renewed interest in her life and works. In 2002, a complete collection of her known poetry was published, entitled E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake: Collected Poems and Selected Prose.
Emily Pauline Johnson was born on 10 March 1861 at Chiefswood, her family home on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario. She was the youngest of four children of Emily Susanna Howells Johnson, an English immigrant, and George Henry Martin Johnson, a Mohawk hereditary clan chief.
Her father worked as an interpreter, acting as a link between Mohawk communities, British officials, and representatives of the Canadian government. Because of this, the Johnson family held a prominent social position. Their home at Chiefswood received notable visitors, including the Governor General of Canada and inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
Johnson grew up in a household shaped by both Mohawk and Victorian English traditions. Her mother emphasized discipline, manners, and social presentation, while her father encouraged his children to understand and navigate both their Mohawk and English heritage.
Her early life was also shaped by differing systems of identity. Under Canadian law, the Johnson children were considered Mohawk and wards of the Crown. However, in Mohawk society, identity and clan membership were passed through the mother. As a result, Johnson and her siblings did not belong to a Mohawk clan and were excluded from some aspects of community and ceremonial life.
A sickly child, Johnson did not attend Brantford's Mohawk Institute, a residential school established in 1834. Her education was mostly at home and informal, derived from her mother, a series of non-Native governesses, a few years at the small school on the reserve, and self-guided reading in her family's expansive library. She read deeply in the works of Byron, Tennyson, Keats, Browning and Milton, and enjoyed reading tales about Indigenous people such as Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha and John Richardson's Wacousta. These informed her own literary and theatrical work.