PAULINE JOHNSON Canadian Poet

Every Canadian school child used to know about Pauline Johnson. My brother, born in 1936, recalled learning “The Song My Paddle Sings” from his grade two reader. My son, born in 1976, never heard of her. People today are more likely to confuse Johnson with west coast artist Emily Carr, or Ontario heroine and brand of chocolates Laura Secord than remember her as one of Canada’s most famous poets and performers. Recently she was one of the finalists considered for the new Canadian ten dollar bill. In a little grove of trees in Stanley Park, not far from Siwash Rock and the Pacific Ocean, sits a small monument with the silhouette of a woman carved on it and an inscription that reads “E. Pauline Johnson 1861–1913.” What should Canadians know about Pauline Johnson and what is her connection to British Columbia?

Pauline Johnson’s status as a poet and performer in the late 1890s and early 1900s was on par with rock stars today. She was known as Canada’s first Aboriginal voice