My aim, my joy, my pride, is to sing the glories of my own people.
— E. Pauline Johnson

A search for the timeless connection to the old world presages a vision of the future in the haunting story of The Lost Island from Legends of Vancouver, a book inspired by the friendship between a Mohawk poet and a Salish chief and storyteller. It was the first collection of West Coast legends retold in English by a native artist and has become a classic of Canadian children’s and native literature. Set amidst the natural beauty of Vancouver, British Columbia, the detailed watercolour illustrations by Atanas convey a spirit infused with the love of nature.

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

Atanas Matsoureff was born in Bansko, Bulgaria in 1975. His paintings are prized for their beauty and sensitivity in depicting the world of nature.

Atanas Matsoureff's profile page