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Emily Pauline Johnson was born at Chiefswood. on the Grand Rher just south of . Bran1ford, in 1861. Her mother, Emily Susanna Howells, belonged t.o an influential family of English missionaries. Her father, George Henry M;min Johnson, was a Mohawk chief. Pauline was the youngest of four children. She spent her- childhood in an atmosphere of privilege and culture. Symboli- cal]y, the house her father had two main entrances, one facing tbe river, the favoured route of tbe Indians, the other facing the white man's road. 11 Some of Pauline's earliest recollections were of important 9lait.ors who called at her home. June, 1892, in the Waterford Siar, she recalled one incident, the visit of ArthuF-,.Duke of Connaught, t.o Chiefswood. Pauline's father escorted Queen Viet.aria's third son on a t.our of the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks, then participated in a ceremony irl whtth Prince Arthur was made an honorary chief. More than twenty years later, Pauline wrote: "I see again those · grand old Ir9<1uois chiefs in their savage dress, their copper- colored faces dashed with red aacJ black paint .. "Bbt my childish eyes watched · onlJ f;wo people in that vast ~. the pale young prince ancltlle dark, military-looking chief that rode beside him. How prdud1 was of that rider! How well I knew ... that beautiful 1 buckskin costume, those brilliant, silver medals and ornaments, that dainty, though deadly, scalping knife._ and well-worn t.omahawk ... "I ~ fir out the window and peered down int.o the savage- -.ged. throng." '-Will he look up?' I cried t.o my :mother, bllt she was t.oo eagerly watching that pair t.o reply, and a deer, proud light crept int.o her 1>1ue Engllsh eyes when she saw 'our' chief dismount, t.oss off the scarlet blanket, spread it on the · green as a carpet, conduct the ~r prince t.o a place of honor upon it, take from his own shoulders a ~cent sash of btdian workmanship in beads, JnOQte hair and porcupine_quills, Otlier celetirities, including Alexander Graham Bell and Governor:General and Lady Dufferin, also visited the Johnson home. The genteel lif~style came t.o an end after Chief Johnson's death in 1884. Unable to maintain the family home, even with the help of two grown sons, Emily Johnson moved her daUAAters to smaller quart.ers in Brantford. ·There, while her sister Evelyn went t.o work as a secretary, Pauline pursued her literary ambitions. Then, as now, a literary career is hardly the easiest way t.o make money.Eventually,Paullne followed the example of many other poets of the day. She took to platform, travelling about the province, and eventually across Canada and to Britain, giving dramatic readings of her poetry and prose. Although I have yet to find any record of Paullne's appearances in Haldimand-Norfolk, she probably appeared at recitals here on more than one oc~asion. Between Oct.ober 1892 and May 1893 she gave 125 performances in Ontario t.owns. Since Simcoe, Waterford, and Hagersville were close t.o home, it's likely she ap- peared before audiences in these communities. The fame her performances brought enabled her to publish ·hec first collection of poems, The White Wampum, in 1896. Publication didn't bring financial comfort, though. Besides, Pauline was never very good with money. "Do you know what I'd do if I had only two dollars in the world and knew it would be my last?" she once said "f d spelJ,d half on my body and half on my soul. With one I'd buy a whacking good steak and with the other a dozen cut carnations. Then I'd die happy." For 20 years, she criss-crossed Canada, enduring long, dusty rides in carriages and trains, make-shift accommodations ( she once chqed in a grain bin) and gradual disillusionmenl Finally, thoUSb, she was able t.o retire. The time she planned to spend in wri~- tragically brief. IJhordY • te VanC01Per,,ll\ediRmered she • Whenfri learned she couldn't support herself, they arranged for a special sale of her book, Tales of Vancouver. When.Pauline Johnson died shortly before her 62nd birthday, all Vancouver went into mourning. Her remains were buried near Siwash Rock, in Stanley Park, and, contrary to her wishes a monument was later e ected there.