Emily Pauline Johnson was born on the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada. Her father was a Mohawk chief, and her mother, an English immigrant, educated their children to respect both cultures and heritage. Johnson was a sickly child and could not attend the reserve school, so she was educated at home by her mother and non-Indigenous governesses. At 14, she went to study at Brantford Central Collegiate. There, she began to write poems and perform, continuing this at home after graduation.
In 1883, at the age of 22, Johnson published her first full-length poem in a magazine. In the following year, her father died, and she moved with her mother and sister to Brantford. She continued to publish her poems and began to perform on stage to support her family. In 1886, 25 years old Johnson got the commission to write a poem for the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Joseph Brant, who was a Mohawk leader who allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. In her poem, Ode to Brant, she called for brotherhood between Native and white Canadians. An article about her poem in the Toronto Globe increased the interest in her and her heritage, and afterward, she began to publish her poems regularly in various magazines. Her poetry portrayed the Indigenous culture and “traditional” topics, such as love, landscapes, and Canadian life.
In 1892, at the age of 31, Johnson was invited to read her poetry at a Canadian authors’ event of The Young Men’s Liberal Association. She was the only woman who performed at the event and the only one to be asked for an encore. Recognizing her talent, the event organizer offered her a solo show to recite her poetry and stories. Her show emphasized both aspects of her culture and heritage. She began her performance as Tekahionwake, her great-grandfather’s Mohawk name, wearing traditional Mohawk dress and reciting “Indian” lyrics; in the second act, she changed into Victorian women clothing and read the “English” verses. Her show was tremendously popular, and she embarked on multiple speaking tours in Canada, the US, and England. During this time, Johnson continued writing poems and releasing two poetry collections, The White Wampum in 1895 and Canadian Born in 1903.
In 1909, at 48, Johnson retired from the stage and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. She continued to write and publish poems and a series of tales based on folklore stories of the Squamish Chief Joe Capilano. In 1912, she published her last poetry collection Flint and Feather. Johnson died of breast cancer in the following year, at 52 years old. Throughout her life, she wrote hundreds of poems and stories, in which she broke the cultural barriers of her time, exploring identity as a mixed ethnic woman during the 19th century.
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