Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake): Poet and Her Toronto Link

Emily Pauline Johnson, who signed her work Tekahionwake, was a Mohawk and English-Canadian poet and stage performer. She was born on March 10, 1861, on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, and died in Vancouver on March 7, 1913. Her ties to Toronto were professional: Toronto periodicals published her early poems, a Toronto evening in January 1892 launched her touring career, and several of her books were published in the city.

Family and birth at Chiefswood

Pauline Johnson was born on March 10, 1861, on the Six Nations reserve on the Grand River, in what was then Canada West. The house was Chiefswood, near Tuscarora, also called Middleport, southeast of Brantford. Her father, George H. M. Johnson, was a Mohawk chief and interpreter. Her mother, Emily Susanna Howells, was born in England. The Canadian Encyclopedia says her parents married in 1853.

Parks Canada’s register of historic places states that Chiefswood was built between 1853 and 1856 for George Johnson, and that it was the family home until his death in 1884. The house is now a National Historic Site, recognized on May 26, 1953. Johnson is also designated a Person of National Historic Significance. Chiefswood stands within the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, and it is the best place to start for the earliest part of her story.

Schooling and first publications

The Canadian Encyclopedia reports that she was often in poor health as a child and that she was educated at home and by governesses, since there was no day school on the reserve. At fourteen she began attending Brantford Central Collegiate and she graduated in 1877. She began writing poetry in her teens.

Her first printed work appeared outside Toronto. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that between 1884 and 1886 she published eight poems in the Week, a Toronto periodical, and four more in Gems of Poetry, published in New York. After her father died in 1884 she moved with her mother and sister to rented quarters in Brantford. In 1886 she began to sign her work both as E. Pauline Johnson and as Tekahionwake, a Mohawk name that is usually translated as “double wampum.”

Toronto newspapers and the Globe

Toronto’s papers followed her early career. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that Sara Jeannette Duncan, writing under the name Garth Grafton, interviewed Johnson for the Globe on October 14, 1886, in a column called “Woman’s world.” On May 22, 1892, the Sunday edition of the same paper printed an essay by Johnson on how Indigenous girls were shown in modern fiction. The Toronto Metropolitan University sketch adds that her poems also appeared in The Week, founded by Goldwin Smith, and in Toronto Saturday Night. For the newspaper’s background, see the article on the Globe and Mail.

These are the solid, documented points. None of the six sources checked says that she lived in Toronto, and none says where she stayed when she visited. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography places her at Chiefswood, then in rented quarters in Brantford, and the Toronto Metropolitan University sketch names Vancouver as the city where she chose to settle. Any claim of a Toronto address should be treated as unconfirmed.

The January 1892 recital

The event that most clearly ties her to Toronto took place in 1892. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography explains that Frank Yeigh, a school friend who was then president of the Young Men’s Liberal Club in Toronto, invited her in January 1892 to an evening of poetry sponsored by the club. The success of that evening led to her touring career.

The sources opened for this article settle part of the sequence. The biographical sketch in the Toronto Metropolitan University edition of Flint and Feather says she read “A Cry from an Indian Wife” at the Young Liberals’ evening and was the only performer to win an encore. Press comment then urged her to appear more often, and Yeigh arranged a full evening for her at Association Hall, according to that sketch within two weeks. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry on Yeigh puts the second recital in February. The first evening is therefore January 1892, and the Association Hall evening was a separate, later event. The sketch says she forgot some lines that night but recovered smoothly.

The exact day of either event is not given in these sources, and the “two weeks” of the sketch does not sit easily with “February.” Other web accounts give specific dates, including January 16 and February 19, 1892, but I could not trace them to a primary record, so they are left out. A Toronto newspaper of the time would settle the matter. Yeigh then acted as her promoter and publicist until 1894, and she later called him her “Yeigh-man.”

After the success of that evening she performed widely. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography counts about 125 performances in 50 Ontario towns and villages between October 1892 and May 1893. Her touring partner was Owen Alexander Smily from 1892 to 1897, and later J. Walter McRaye from 1901 to 1909. The Canadian Encyclopedia says her show began in traditional Mohawk dress and changed to Victorian clothing for the second half.

Books and Toronto publishers

Several books carry a Toronto imprint, which is another way her career connected to the city. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography lists them as follows.

The White Wampum (1895): published in London, Toronto and Boston. She arranged its publication during her 1894 recitals in London.
Canadian Born (1903): published in Toronto by the George Morang Publishing Company, according to the Toronto Metropolitan University sketch.
Legends of Vancouver (1911): published in Vancouver, based on stories told by Chief Joe Capilano of the Squamish.
Flint and Feather (1912): her largest poetry collection in her lifetime, issued in Toronto by the Musson Book Company. The Canadian Encyclopedia gives 1912 without qualification. The year is bracketed in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and in the Canadiana catalogue record, which means the cataloguers supplied it rather than reading it from the title page. Two sources thus state 1912 and two bracket it, and none gives a different year, so 1912 is used here.
The Moccasin Maker and The Shagganappi (1913): story collections published in Toronto after her death.

The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the first edition of Flint and Feather as a reprint of The White Wampum and Canadian Born plus fourteen new poems and a suite of nine short verses titled “Autumn’s Orchestra.” A second edition followed in 1913 and a third in 1914, and the book has been reissued more than 35 times. Although sold as her complete poems, it holds only about half of her poetic output. The standard scholarly edition, edited by Carole Gerson and Veronica Strong-Boag, appeared in 2000.

For the wider story of Indigenous history in the Toronto area, see Toronto’s Indigenous history and the article on the Mississaugas of the Credit, on whose treaty territory the city stands. Another nineteenth-century Indigenous writer connected to Toronto was Peter Jones.

Vancouver, death and burial

Johnson retired from the stage in 1909 and spent her last years in Vancouver. In 1906 she had met Chief Joe Capilano in London. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that the Vancouver journalist Isabel McLean helped with her final works, and that a committee including representatives of the Canadian Women’s Press Club supported her. She died in Vancouver on March 7, 1913, three days before her 52nd birthday. A funeral was held at Christ Church Cathedral and she was buried in Stanley Park, as she had requested. The Women’s Canadian Club erected a monument there in 1922.

Her identity and legacy

Johnson called herself an Indian in her time, and her life has been discussed since. The Canadian Encyclopedia reports that some critics have questioned that self-description. They note that she spent her adult life away from Mohawk culture and that some of her stage work used familiar stereotypes. Others argue that she turned her Mohawk heritage into a living in a period when few options existed for her. Her father’s family was Mohawk, and her mother’s was English, and both parts are part of her story.

The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that in 2016 she was one of twelve Canadian women considered for a new banknote. The honour went to Viola Desmond. Chiefswood is a public museum, and the house and her monument in Stanley Park remain the two main places that keep her memory visible.

Frequently asked questions

Did Pauline Johnson live in Toronto?

No Toronto residence is documented in the sources checked. She grew up at Chiefswood, lived in Brantford after 1884, toured widely, and spent her last years in Vancouver.

What was Pauline Johnson’s first Toronto performance?

The earliest Toronto performance in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is an evening sponsored by the Young Men’s Liberal Club in January 1892. A fuller evening at Association Hall followed. The sources opened give no exact day for either.

What does Tekahionwake mean?

It is the Mohawk name she used beside E. Pauline Johnson from 1886. It is usually translated as “double wampum.”

When and where did Pauline Johnson die?

She died in Vancouver on March 7, 1913, and was buried in Stanley Park.

Where was Pauline Johnson born?

She was born at Chiefswood on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario, on March 10, 1861. The house is now a National Historic Site.

Sources

The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)” (accessed October 2026)
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Johnson, Emily Pauline” (accessed October 2026)
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Yeigh, Frank” (accessed November 2026)
Toronto Metropolitan University Library, Flint and Feather (Pressbooks edition), “Biographical Sketch” (accessed November 2026)
The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Flint and Feather” (accessed November 2026)
Canadiana (Canadian Research Knowledge Network), catalogue record for Flint and Feather, Toronto: Musson Book Company (accessed November 2026)
Parks Canada, Canadian Register of Historic Places, “Chiefswood National Historic Site of Canada” (accessed October 2026)

Last verified: November 2026

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, November 1). Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake): Poet, Performer and Toronto Link. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/pauline-johnson

MLA: “Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake): Poet, Performer and Toronto Link.” History of Toronto, 1 Nov 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/pauline-johnson. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake): Poet, Performer and Toronto Link.” Last modified November 1, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/pauline-johnson.

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