Legends of Vancouver was written at the turn of the last century and first published in 1911. The written collection of legends and myths was the result of a meeting, and later the fast friendship, between a Mohawk princess and a West Coast Squamish Chief.

Before her arrival on the West Coast, Pauline Johnson had acquired notoriety as a poet and performer and as an active proponent of Mohawk culture. That she was drawn to local legends was a natural extension of an already prolific career as a writer and stage performer. Retiring from the stage when she reached Vancouver in 1909, it was only right that she continues to share her stories. These were first published separately in a local newspaper and later published in book form. Johnson’s book of native legends quickly became a classic of Vancouver’s literature.

We can still detect to this day the joy of discovery that Johnson imprinted in her writing of the legends. Whether just arrived or long-time residents, readers will share with Johnson emotions of discovery when seized, through her writings, by the beauty of the surroundings, just as she was 100 years ago. This book is also a portrait of a very young Vancouver with its much loved Stanley Park, its rough-and-tumble gold diggers and its millennium old First Nations.

Pauline Johnson’s tomb is set in Stanley Park, near Third Beach. In 1922, almost 13 years after her death, the City of Vancouver paid tribute to this magnificent artist and her legacy by erecting a monument in her honour.

This 100th anniversary edition combines a mix of archival pictures of Vancouver and photographs by Anne-Marie Comte to provide a sense of where these legends took place and how they are incorporated in the modern city.

Emily Pauline Johnson was born on March 10, 1861 at Chiefswood, her family home on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Her father was George Johnson, a distinguished Mohawk chief. She was equally proud of her British-born mother, Emily Howells, and valued her dual heritage. Pauline was an accomplished poet by her late teens, and her earliest poetry recitals were a great success. From 1892 until 1909, she toured Canada, the United States, and Britain, giving dramatic performances of her poetry and entertaining audiences of all ages with the stories of her people. After her retirement in 1909, she settled in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her published works of poetry and fiction also include The White Wampum (1895), Canadian Born (1903), Flint and Feather (1912) and The Shagganappi (1913).
E. Pauline Johnson died in 1913 and her ashes are buried in Vancouver’s Stanley Park.

E. Pauline Johnson's profile page

Anne-Marie Comte's profile page

Legends of Vancouver