E. Pauline Johnson

Emily Pauline Johnson (1861–1913), known as Tekahionwake, was a Canadian poet and performer born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. The daughter of a Mohawk chief and an English mother, she drew on both her Indigenous and European backgrounds in her writing. Johnson gained international fame for her dramatic stage performances, often wearing traditional Mohawk regalia. Her poetry collections include "The White Wampum" (1895) and "Canadian Born" (1903). Later in life, she moved to Vancouver, where she collaborated with Squamish chief Joe Capilano to record Indigenous oral stories, published posthumously as "Legends of Vancouver" (1911). Johnson's work is significant for its early blending of Indigenous storytelling with English poetic forms, and she remains a celebrated figure in Canadian literature for her advocacy of Indigenous voices and her vivid depictions of the Pacific Northwest.