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Remembering E. Pauline Johnson, Mohawk poet

June 24, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

To commemorate the month of June, National Indigenous History Month and June 21, which is the National Indigenous Peoples Day, let us celebrate poet Pauline Johnson, who was also Canada’s first performance artist. A tribute to her for those of you who have never heard of her and perhaps, to reacquaint her with others of you who remember her, maybe by reading some of her poetry in high school or by browsing in a library.

You may have been impressed with the power of her stories, which were often about the lives and conflicts of Indigenous life and sometimes about conflicts with white people.

The style of her writing, how the a, a, b, aa, b rhyming of her storytelling drew you in, unable to draw back, no matter how hard the tale, how at the end, you might have gasped at the undeniable truth of it. Then, the images in her words followed you for ages.

Even when one was a fiction, you didn’t know for sure because many of them told the tale exactly as it was, and the fictions were truly reflective.

In other poems, she cradles you with a passage on a river, listening to nature all around, restoring you with soothing, clear pictures.

Born in 1861 at Chiefswood, Pauline’s father was George Johnson, a hereditary Mohawk Chief. Chiefswood was the home her father built. He had built the house with two identical doors, one for Indigenous people to enter and the other for white visitors, to indicate they were equal.

Pauline’s mother was Emily Howells, who immigrated to the U.S. from England with her family when she was young. Emily met George while visiting her sister on a mission to Mohawk territory. At the time, George was an interpreter for the Anglican Mission. They married in 1853, shortly after which George became chief of the Six Nations. He was also appointed as a Crown interpreter for the Six Nations.

Her mother educated Pauline at home because, as a child, she suffered from ill health. Poetry came naturally to the little girl, and she was already composing by the time she was eight years old. Imbued with the fine poetry of others, English and Canadian, she aspired as she developed to gain a place amongst them.

When she was young, Pauline spent time with her Mohawk grandfather, Chief John Smke Johnson, from whom she took her Indigenous name, Tekahionwake. He led her to understand more of her Mohawk heritage, which she came to revere, and it influenced her poetry and the persona she presented once she began her career as a performer.

When her father died in 1884, she, her mother and her sister moved to Brantford, where they struggled financially. From then, Pauline, now in her early 20s, began to pursue a career of spoken word performance, breaking protocol of a single Indigenous woman on stage to very good success.

The notes left by her sister on how Pauline created the Indian dress she wore to perform, a determined mix of artifacts with beads, scalps of decades ago, a wild and surprising collection attached to and a part of the garment to portray her Indigenous heritage. She wore that Indian garment in the first half of her shows while she recited the poetry of savage battles, injustices and bravery. For the second half, she dashed back onto the stage in a grey silk gown to offer poetry of nature and love.

In all her life, Pauline did not shrink from criticizing the stereotypes of Indigenous people that white people imposed. She took on social mores that were the causes of cruel circumstances that Indigenous people faced at that time.

When Pauline Johnson died in 1913, she left a goodly number of relics and treasured memorabilia to the Vancouver City Museum (now the Museum of Vancouver). Yet whatever Pauline left in material terms could never matter more than the firm footprint she stamped on Canada’s literary and social history.

E. Pauline Johnson is listed as a Person of National Historic Significance, and her childhood home is a National Historic Site and museum in recognition of her passionate and exceptional poetry, but also for her demonstrated bravery in the face of the views and prejudices that the white population of Canada held about the First Nations living on this land.

June is National Indigenous History Month. The enthusiasm for this acknowledgement is supported by several local events all month at the schools from the local boards, as well as within the community. The Town of Orangeville and the Upper Grand District School Board also formally marked that this is a time to celebrate the vibrant histories, cultures, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

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