1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Today we're 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: going to talk about someone who listeners in Canada may 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,319 Speaker 1: be familiar with, and folks in other parts of the 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: world might not be. It is Emily Pauline Johnson, also 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: known as Degaionega, who made a career writing poetry and 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: prose and performing it on stage in the late nineteenth 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: and early twentieth centuries. Pauline's mother was British and her 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: father was Mohawk, and Degaon was her great grandfather's name. 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: I have seen it translated as double wampum, double life, 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: and two streams, So regardless of the exact specifics there, 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: the idea of two or doubling isn't all of them. 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: Pauline adopted the gay yon Wa Gay as a stage 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: name and a pen name, and she performed and published 16 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: a lot of her work under both of these names 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: as and it would say e Pauline Johnson Degayona Gay. 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: Most people that I have seen writing and speaking about 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: her today, including other members of the Mohawk Nation, referred 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,479 Speaker 1: to her as Pauline Johnson. So I've also heard three 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: pretty different pronunciations of dega yon waka. If you're like, 22 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: that's not quite how I've heard it before, I heard 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: it a number of slightly different ways. You just gotta 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: pick one at the end of the day. Emily Pauline 25 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: Johnson was born on March tenth, eighteen sixty one, at 26 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: her family's home on the Six Nations Reserve. This is 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: outside the city of Brantford and what's now the province 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: of Ontario. Her parents were George Henry Martin Johnson and 29 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: Emily Susannah Howells, and she was the youngest of their 30 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: four children. Emily had been born in Bristol, England, and 31 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: her family had immigrated to the United States when she 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: was still a child. She met George after her sister Eliza, 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: got married to the Reverend Alan Elliott, who was an 34 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: Anglican missionary. Alan worked on the Sixth Nations Reserve and 35 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: George was his interpreter and lived in the parsonage with him. 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: Emily and George met when Emily was visiting her sister, 37 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: and they fell in love. After George contracted typhoid, Eliza 38 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: had asked Emily to come and help take care of him. 39 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: When George and Emily got married, it was over both 40 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: their famili's objections and in spite of controversy. In both 41 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: Indigenous and European communities, marriages between white men and indigenous 42 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: women had been relatively common during the early decades of 43 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: European colonization of Canada, when most colonists were men, but 44 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: marriages between white women and Indigenous men had never been 45 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: viewed in quite the same way. In the European ideal, 46 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: white women were examples of purity, while indigenous men were 47 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: thought of as uncivilized or savage, so pete were objected 48 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: to the idea of a supposedly pure woman marrying a 49 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: supposedly uncivilized man. Has more Europeans had emigrated to Canada, 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: interracial marriages had also become less and less socially acceptable overall. 51 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: One of Emily's brothers in law, the Reverend Robert Rogers, 52 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: not only refused to officiate her marriage to George, but 53 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: also spent years refusing to acknowledge that the marriage existed 54 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: at all. Robert told Emily that any children she might 55 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: ever have with George would never be allowed to associate 56 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: with his children with her sister Mary. Beyond that, the 57 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: Mohawk nation has a matrilineal kinship system, and George's mother 58 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: was a clan mother within the Wolf clan. George had 59 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: also followed his maternal uncle as a hereditary chief with 60 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: his mother's backing. Marrying a white woman rather than a 61 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: Mohawk woman meant that roles that have been passed down 62 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: through their family for generations could not be passed along 63 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: to his children, something that his mother was deeply upset about. 64 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: Many Indigenous people were also angry that, under provincial law, 65 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: Emily would automatically be considered indigenous after marrying an Indigenous man, 66 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: regardless of what the tribe's own laws said about her citizenship. 67 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: But George and Emily loved each other and they got 68 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: married in spite of all this. In eighteen fifty three, 69 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: as a wedding gift, George started building a spacious home 70 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: on the Grand River known as Chiefs Would. It was 71 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: finished about three years later. He built this home with 72 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: identical entrances on two sides, one of them facing the 73 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: road and the other facing the river, so that Indigenous 74 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: visitors who often came by canoe and European visitors, who 75 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: usually came by road. Both felt as though they were 76 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: being greeted at the front of the house. I love 77 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: that detail to this kind of duality was threaded all 78 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: through paul means life. Her father spoke multiple languages, including 79 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: the Mohawk language and other languages from the six nations 80 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: of the Hadenishawnee, as well as English, French, and German. 81 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: He worked as an interpreter and a cultural liaison, and 82 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: in addition to being an hereditary chief, he also held 83 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: various positions for the provincial government. Most of the time 84 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: he went by George, spoke English and war European style clothes, 85 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: but when it came to formal or ceremonial tribal events, 86 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: he wore Mohawk style clothing and used a Mohawk name. 87 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: He had a few other names over the course of 88 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: his life, the most well known being own one known Shoshon. 89 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: Emily was dedicated to the idea that Pauline and her 90 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: siblings should love and honor their Mohawk heritage and ancestry, 91 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: but she was also worried that white society might judge 92 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: them for it, so, in addition to raising them with 93 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: a very clear sense that they were Mohawk. Emily also 94 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: tried to mold them all into a very picture perfect 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: ex ample of a Victorian British family. She had a 96 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: lot of rules about etiquette and dress and behavior that 97 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: they were all expected to follow very scrupulously. In terms 98 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: of their education, George had attended the Mohawk Institute Residential 99 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 1: School in Brantford, which was established in eighteen thirty one 100 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: as one of the first residential schools for Indigenous children 101 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: in Canada, and he sent his sons there as well. 102 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: The Mohawk Institute eventually became a template for a formalized, 103 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: government backed network of schools meant to separate Indigenous children 104 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: from their families, cultures, languages, and identities, and to force 105 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: them to assimilate with white society. In nineteen twenty, the 106 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: Canadian government made attendance at the school's mandatory for Indigenous children, 107 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: and thousands of children died in them while they were 108 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: in operation. Today we understand that this was a tool 109 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: of cultural genocide, and these schools existed alongside laws and 110 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: government policies that were explicitly designed to destroy Indigenous cultures 111 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: and traditions and to force Indigenous people to assimilate with 112 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: white society. That part hadn't happened yet when George started 113 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: at the Mohawk Institute, which was shortly after it opened, 114 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: or when he sent his children there. But the roots 115 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: of this whole system and the focus on assimilation really 116 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: stretched all the way back to the first Christian missionary 117 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: efforts in Canada, and conditions at the Mohawk Institute were 118 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: cruel from the beginning. George and Emily sent their oldest son, 119 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: Henry Beverly known as Beverly or Bev, in part to 120 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: act as an example for other Mohawk families who were 121 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: reluctant to send their children to the school, but Bev 122 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: was miserable and homesick the whole time. They sent their 123 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: son Alan as well, but after he ran away to 124 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: his grandparents house, they did not make him go back. 125 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: Pauline's sister Evelyn known as Eva, went to Helmets Ladies 126 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: College in London, Ontario instead. Pauline, though was educated primarily 127 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: at home. She had been seriously ill several times as 128 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: a child, and her mother was acutely worried about her health. 129 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: Emily Johnson had watched three of her sister Eliza's children 130 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: die during an outbreak of scarlet fever, and then Eliza 131 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: herself had died of tuberculosis, and all of that naturally 132 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: heightened Emily's fears about Pauline's health. So Pauline had governesses 133 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: and tutors and access to her mother's very large library 134 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: of English literature. She learned Mohawk history and folklore from 135 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: her Mohawk family members, especially her grandfather, John Johnson, who 136 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: was known as Smoke Johnson. This is apparently because his 137 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: Mohawk name was translated into English along the lines of 138 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: disappearing of the Indian summer missed. Like Pauline's father, her 139 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: grandfather was prominent within the Mohawk. He had been named 140 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: Pine Tree Chief, which was a non hereditary position now 141 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: for the War of eighteen twelve. The Johnson family's position 142 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: in both Mohawk and European communities meant that throughout Pauline's 143 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: childhood they hosted all kinds of dignitaries and other important 144 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: people at Chiefswood. This included Arthur, Duke of Connacht, third 145 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: son of Queen Victoria, who was named Chief of the 146 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: Six Nations in eighteen sixty nine, Alexander Graham Bell and 147 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: his mother visited chiefs Wood as well, and at one 148 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: point the family saw a trial of Bell's telephone, with 149 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: George sending his message across the line in Mohawk. But 150 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: there were also times when George's life was threatened as 151 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: he tried to mediate between white and Mohawks societies and 152 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: protect the people of the Six Nations Reserve. When Pauline 153 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: was for George tried to put a stop to illegal 154 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: alcohol trafficking into the reserve and he was attacked and 155 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 1: badly beaten by two non Indigenous bootleggers. This is one 156 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: of at least three times that he was attacked and 157 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,439 Speaker 1: seriously hurt as he fought back against things like illegal 158 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:06,839 Speaker 1: liquor and illegal bootlegging on First Nation's land. Eventually, Pauline's 159 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: parents thought she was well enough to attend a reserve 160 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: day school, but by that point she had trouble fitting in. 161 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: She had developed a very particular demeanor under her mother's 162 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: many rules, and she was so passionately interested in British 163 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: literature and poetry that she had a really hard time 164 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: connecting with her classmates. After this, though, from the ages 165 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: of fourteen to sixteen, Pauline went to the Brantford Collegiate Institute, 166 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: which was far enough away from Chiefswood that she had 167 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: to stay with friends in town during the week and 168 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: then she would go back home on weekends. It really 169 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: seems like away from the rest of the family, she 170 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: started to grow into a more personable, friendly, fun loving 171 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:50,119 Speaker 1: young woman. She loved making friends and canoeing and writing, 172 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: especially writing poetry. Her writing later made her famous, which 173 00:10:54,600 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: we will get to after a sponsor break. After Emily 174 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: Pauline Johnson returned home from Brantford Collegiate Institute in eighteen 175 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: eighty seven, the assumption was that she would soon be 176 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: getting married, and she did reportedly have a lot of 177 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: suitors and several marriage proposals, although we really don't know 178 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: a lot of the details. Her sister Eva destroyed most 179 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: of Pauline's personal papers after her death. Eva was a 180 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: poet and a writer as well, but she thought their 181 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: private lives should remain private, and she similarly destroyed a 182 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: lot of her own correspondence to Pauline did not get married, though, 183 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,959 Speaker 1: she kept living at Chiefswood with her parents and sister, 184 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: spending her time writing, camping and canoeing, which was something 185 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: she dearly loved. But then in eighteen eighty four, her 186 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: father died. As we had said earlier, he had been 187 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: attacked several times, including once in eighteen seventy three when 188 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: he was shot and left for dead. He had been 189 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: permanently disabled in disfigured, and he dealt with chronic pain 190 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 1: in recurring skin infections. Although he had been living with 191 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: all of this for years, his death at the age 192 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 1: of sixty seven was unexpected. Pauline's brothers had already moved 193 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: away and they had established careers elsewhere. They tried to 194 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: send money home to their mother and sisters. Eva also 195 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: got a job working as a clerk for the local 196 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: Indian superintendent, but they really just couldn't make ends meet 197 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: without George's income. Aside from that, chiefs Wood was situated 198 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: on about two acres of land, and there was a 199 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: farm and orchards, and the three women just could not 200 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: maintain it on their own. In eighty five, they leased 201 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: out Chiefs Would and they rented a small house in Brantford, 202 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: and Pauline started trying to publish her work to help 203 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: support them. This was obviously a difficult time for all 204 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: three of them. In addition to their grief over George's death. 205 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 1: Pauline's grandfather, Smoke Johnson, died in eighteen eighty six. Their 206 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: home at Chiefs Wood had been large and comfortable, and 207 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: they had been well off, and now they were in 208 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: a much smaller space on a much tighter budget. Pauline 209 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: also lost most of her connections to the Six Nations 210 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: Reserve after her grandfather's death, so a lot of her 211 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: writing about the Mohawk or Indigenous people more broadly was 212 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: rooted more in her childhood memories than on current realities, 213 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: and Pauline's writing really wasn't adding very much to their income. 214 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: She published poems and magazines and newspapers, and she did 215 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: some work for formal occasions, including the dedication of a 216 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: statue of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, who had fought for 217 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,199 Speaker 1: the British during the American Revolution. This is in October 218 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,560 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighty six, and afterwards. Pauline's poem was covered 219 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: in the Toronto Globe. But while she was making some 220 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: headway in Canadian newspapers and magazines, she really struggled to 221 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: publish in the US, especially in major magazines that might 222 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: have paid her more. She wrote patriotic poems about Canada, 223 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: poems about the beauty of the Canadian landscape, poems inspired 224 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: by her Mohawk heritage or indigenous history, and it just 225 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: was not resonating with editors in the US. She eventually 226 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: became so discouraged that she thought about giving up, but 227 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: she had sent some of her writing to American poet 228 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: John Greenleaf Whittier, whose work similarly included pastoral poems about 229 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: rural New England. His letter back to her was so 230 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: gracious and encouraging that it really lifted her spirits. But 231 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: Pauline's big break didn't come from Whittier. It came from 232 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: her reading she gave at the Young Men's Liberal Club 233 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: of Toronto in eight two, when she was thirty one. 234 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: An old school friend, Frank Ya, had invited her to 235 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: appear at this and she chose to recite a poem 236 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: called A Cry from an Indian Wife, which is written 237 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: from the point of view of a maighty woman during 238 00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: the Northwest Rebellion of five This poem illustrates what Pauline 239 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: was doing with a lot of her work that directly 240 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: related to Indigenous people. It was written to be accessible 241 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: to a white audience, but it also did not shy 242 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: away from subjects that would make that same audience uncomfortable. 243 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: This included leaning on the kind of linguistic tropes that 244 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: white audiences would expect from a first nation's poet. The 245 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: poem's first line is quote my forest, brave, my red 246 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: skin love farewell, but later lines are quite pointed, writing 247 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: quote they but forget we Indians owned the land from 248 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: ocean onto ocean, that they stand upon, a soil that, 249 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: centuries a gone was our sole kingdom and our right alone. 250 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: They never think how they would feel today if some 251 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: great nation came from far away, resting their country from 252 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: their hapless braves, giving what they gave us, but wars 253 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: and graves from there. The speaker in this poem imagines 254 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: a white woman praying for the safety of her own 255 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: husband heading off to fight in the same conflict, before 256 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: ending quote, she never thinks of my wild aching breast, 257 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: nor praise for your dark face. An eagle crest endangered 258 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: by a thousand rifle balls my heart the target. If 259 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: my warrior falls, oh coward self, I hesitate no more 260 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: go forth, And when the glories of the war go forth, 261 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: nor bend to greed of white man's hands, by rights, 262 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: by birth, we Indians on these lands, those starved, crushed, 263 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: plundered lies, our nation low. Perhaps the white man's God 264 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: has willed it. So Pauline treated this event as more 265 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: of a performance than a straight reading, and the reception 266 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: was extremely positive. A newspaper right up about it said 267 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: in part quote, ms. E. Pauline Johnson may be said 268 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: to have been the pleasantest contribution of the evening. It 269 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: was like the voice of the nations that once possessed 270 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: this country, who have wasted away before our civilization, speaking 271 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: through this cultured, gifted, saw off face descendant. Pauline developed 272 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: the performance style that she became famous for. From there, 273 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: she billed herself as E. Pauline Johnson Decaiona Gay and 274 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: spent the first half of the performance in indigenous dress, 275 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: reading work that focused on mohawk and other indigenous themes, 276 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: and then she would change into a Victorian gown and 277 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: read other work like pastoral poems about the beauty of Canada, 278 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,919 Speaker 1: or love poems, patriotic poems, things like that. All of 279 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 1: this was carefully tailored to appeal to white audiences. Her 280 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: outfit for the first half of the performance wasn't any 281 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: particular indigenous regalia. It was a costume inspired by an 282 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: illustration of Minnie Ha ha from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song 283 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: of Hiawatha. Some of this costume choice was because at 284 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: this point many Mohawk women were wearing European style clothing, 285 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: but those who were to often wore tunics, leggings, and blankets, 286 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: which Pauline didn't think would come together in an appealing 287 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: or lattering stage ensemble. She shopped around trying to find 288 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:05,959 Speaker 1: something authentic that would give her the look that she 289 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 1: wanted on stage, before finally buying a dress from Hudson's 290 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: Bay Company in Winnipeg and significantly modifying it with buckskin, fringe, 291 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: fur pelts, and beads. She added to this costume over 292 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: the years, also wearing a bear claw necklace and carrying 293 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: a hunting knife that had belonged to her father. In 294 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: addition to poetry, Pauline also wrote essays and stories, and 295 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: as all of this was happening, she won a short 296 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: story contest for A Red Girl's Reasoning, and that became 297 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: her first published piece of fiction. This is about a 298 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: woman named Christine whose father was English and whose mother 299 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: was indigenous. Christine and her new husband, Charlie, who is white, 300 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: are at a social gathering when a conversation reveals that 301 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: Christine's parents were married through indigenous customs and not through 302 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: a Christian marriage ceremony or at least a magistrate. Charlie 303 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: and a lot of the other people around them are 304 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 1: appalled at what, to them is a scandalous revelation. When 305 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: asked why her parents didn't get married by a priest 306 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: or a missionary once there was one in the area 307 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 1: where they were living, Christine answers, quote, do you suppose 308 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: that my mother would be married according to your white 309 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: rights after she had been five years a wife and 310 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: I had been born in the meantime? No. A thousand 311 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: times I say no. When the priest came with his 312 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 1: notions of Christianizing and talked to them of remarriage by 313 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,719 Speaker 1: the church, my mother arose and said, never never. I 314 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 1: have never had but this one husband. He has had 315 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: none but me for wife. And to have you remarry 316 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: us would be to say as much to the whole 317 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: world as that we had never been married. Before you 318 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: go away, I do not ask that your people be remarried. 319 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: Talk not so to me, I am married, and you 320 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: or the church cannot do or undo it. Pauline's career 321 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: really took off in late eighteen. Between October of that 322 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: year in May she did a hundred and twenty five 323 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: performances in fifty cities and towns, which is just a 324 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 1: colossal number. I can barely imagine how exhausting that must 325 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 1: have been. We will get to how her career grew 326 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: from there after another quick sponsor break. Pauline Johnson understood 327 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:34,360 Speaker 1: that by incorporating an Indian princess costume and drawing from 328 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: the stilted language and idioms that white people associated with 329 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 1: native speech, she was kind of pandering to white people's 330 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,960 Speaker 1: sensibilities and potentially reinforcing some stereotypes. At one point, she 331 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,680 Speaker 1: replied to somebody who had written to her about this 332 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: and said, quote, more than all things, I hate and despise, 333 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: brain debasement, literary pot boiling, and yet I have done 334 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: will do these things, though I sneer at my own 335 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: littleness in so doing. The reason of my actions in 336 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 1: this matter, well, the reason is that the public will 337 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: not listen to lyrics, will not appreciate real poetry, will 338 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: not in fact have me as an entertainer if I 339 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: give them nothing but rhythm, cadence, beauty thought. But she 340 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: also created a persona and a literary voice that felt 341 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: comfortable and safe to white audiences, and she used that 342 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: as an opportunity to push back against injustice and racism, 343 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: or to undermine those same stereotypes. She also commented directly 344 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: on specific issues through her work. This included, as one example, 345 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: the residential schools that her father and brothers had gone to, 346 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: which at this point had come under federal control. The 347 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: poem Her Sister's Son was part of her regular performance repertoire, 348 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: but was never published in full. It read, in part quote, 349 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: for they killed the best that was in me when 350 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,479 Speaker 1: they said I must not return, turned to my father's lodge, 351 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: to my mother's arms, when my heart would burn and burn, 352 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: For when dead is a daughter's womanhood, there is nothing 353 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: left that is grand and good. Because of her more 354 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: pastoral work on the beauty of the rural Canadian landscape 355 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: and her more patriotic poems about Canada, Pauline Johnson has 356 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: sometimes included among a group of Canadian poets known as 357 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: the Confederation Poets. These are writers that were born sometime 358 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixties and were the first poets to 359 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 1: really come to national prominence after the Confederation of Canada 360 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty seven, and they're really considered to have 361 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:43,479 Speaker 1: formed the foundations of the Canadian literary tradition. By eighteen 362 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: ninety four, Pauline was touring all over Canada as well 363 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: as into parts of the US, and she traveled to 364 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: London that year as well. Apart from the extreme physical 365 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: and emotional demands of this kind of schedule, she faced 366 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: personal difficulties during this time. Her brother Beverly, died of 367 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: apparent heart failure while she was away on tour, and 368 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: her sister Evelyn was increasingly frustrated that Pauline was never 369 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: home to help with their responsibilities there. Evelyn and their 370 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: mother were both deeply disappointed whenever Pauline would come back 371 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: to Brantford, only to turn around and head out on 372 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: tour again. It didn't help that even though she and 373 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: her touring partner Owen Smiley were charging venues seventy five 374 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: dollars a night to perform were fifty dollars if the 375 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 1: crowd was really small, she never seemed to have much 376 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: money to send back home. Apart from the cost of 377 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: travel and keeping herself fed and housed, she was generous 378 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,120 Speaker 1: with her money, especially if she thought somebody really needed it. 379 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: And she just wasn't particularly good at budgeting. I've read 380 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: a lot of sources that just describe her as bad 381 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: with money. It just it flowed. Uh. Pauline's first book, 382 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: The White Wampum, was published in London. In that book 383 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,040 Speaker 1: simply said de gahone w on the cover with the 384 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: title page including the name E. Pauline Johnson and Degacion M. 385 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: Gay underneath, And sometime Pauline became engaged to Charles Robert 386 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: Lumley Drayton. Later that same year, Pauline's mother died. Pauline 387 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: had gotten word that Emily was seriously ill while she 388 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: was on tour, and she canceled the rest of her 389 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: planned appearances that she could go back home. Her fiance's 390 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: mother went with her, and Emily Johnson died less than 391 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: an hour after Pauline arrived. This was the start of 392 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: a particularly difficult stretch for Pauline. Shortly after Emily's death, 393 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: Pauline developed a throat infection and then rheumatic fever, which 394 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: would affect her health for the rest of her life. 395 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: Then Charles's mother died, Pauline's already tense relationship with her 396 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: sister became even rockier as they butted heads over how 397 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: best to divide their mother's possessions and Pauline's refusal to 398 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: move home. Eva couldn't afford the house they'd been living 399 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,439 Speaker 1: in by herself, she had to move for a period. 400 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: After this, Pauline and Eva were estranged. Then in nine hundred, 401 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: Charles called off their engagement and Pauline faced a series 402 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: of serious illnesses. At one point, she was so sick 403 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: that doctors thought she might not survive, and over the 404 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: course of her illness she dealt with skin infections and 405 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: also the loss of all of her hair. She finally 406 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: recovered though. Pauline also found a new touring partner, Walter 407 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: McCrae in nineteen o one, but her family loudly disapproved 408 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: of this choice. They thought McCrae was vulgar and that 409 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: she would damage her reputation by being associated with him. 410 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,360 Speaker 1: For Pauline's part, she usually toured with a white man 411 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: as her partner, both for her own safety and to 412 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: help with logistics. Walter handled a lot of the management 413 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 1: end of things, and he was consistently loyal to her. 414 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: Johnson's second book, Canadian Born, was published in Toronto in 415 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 1: nineteen o three, but it wasn't reviewed as well as 416 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: White Wampham had been. It included a lot of her 417 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,640 Speaker 1: earlier poems that she had already published, and critics just 418 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: didn't find it as fresh or original as they had 419 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: found her first book. Around this time, she decided to 420 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: focus on publishing more prose, with the hope that she 421 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: could earn more money than she was by publishing poetry. 422 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: Her performances were still the real money maker for her, 423 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,400 Speaker 1: but without more income from publishing, it was still not enough. 424 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: She took another trip to London in nineteen o six, 425 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: something that she had been working toward for years but 426 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: could only do once she had paid off various debts 427 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: from earlier tours. And while she was there, she met 428 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: a delegation of indigenous leaders from the Pacific Northwest who 429 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: hoped to meet with King Edward the Seventh. One of 430 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: them was Squamish chiefs Appoluck, also known as Joseph Capellano. 431 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: We've talked so many times on the show about treaties 432 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: between indigenous Nations and Britain or the United States that 433 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,160 Speaker 1: were inherently exploitive of the Indigenous names being treated with, 434 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: or which Britain or the US just ignored the terms 435 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: of or both and what's now British Columbia, Canada settlers 436 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: had moved into Indigenous lands without even the pretense of 437 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: a treaty. This delegation to Edward the seventh had been 438 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: formalized after the provincial government had unilaterally banned hunting and 439 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: fishing outside of formalized hunting seasons. They did this without 440 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: regard to the fact that Indigenous peoples lived by hunting 441 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,440 Speaker 1: and fishing year round. Indigenous people's advocacy for themselves on 442 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: this issue had been ignored. Although this delegation did eventually 443 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: meet with the King, at this point they were still 444 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: waiting and they seemed homesick and dispirited, so Pauline and 445 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: Walter brought them a gift of tobacco, and Pauline greeted 446 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: them in the Pacific Northwest trading language known as Chinook Jargon, 447 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 1: which she knew a little of. She described their faces 448 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,120 Speaker 1: as lighting up when they heard words from home, and 449 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: she and Belok became friends well. The King did eventually 450 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 1: meet with the delegation. As we said, he did not 451 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: take any action on their requests. Pauline and Walter returned 452 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: to North America in nineteen o seven, and shortly after 453 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: they arrived in Nova Scotia, the hotel where they were 454 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: staying caught fire. This was at Christmas time and the 455 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: hotel was nearly empty, so nobody else was on the 456 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 1: floor where their rooms were when Pauline smelled smoke. By 457 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: the time the fire department arrived, they thought it was 458 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: too dangerous for anybody to go to the upper floor, 459 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: so Pauline went herself, saving both hers and Walter's belongings. 460 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: This was extraordinarily dangerous, but Pauline knew that if she 461 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: did not go get her things, she was gonna lose everything, 462 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: and this included her father's hunting knife and other family 463 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: heirlooms that had become part of her touring costume. By 464 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 1: this point, Pauline had succeeded in her effort to publish 465 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: more prose, and her work was regularly appearing in Mother's 466 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: Magazine and Boy's World. She made another trip to London 467 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen o seven. Although it's not 468 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: clear how she spent her time there. Unlike with all 469 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: her touring, this time she went by herself. After she 470 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: got back, she embarked on a Chatauqua tour. The Chatauqua 471 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: movement was a movement for adult education that flourished in 472 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: the US in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 473 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: and while Chatauqua lectures were usually well attended, the schedule 474 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: on the circuit was grueling. After having taken a brief 475 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: vacation in Vancouver, Johnson moved there permanently in nineteen o nine, 476 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: and this was the first time she had had a 477 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: permanent home since leaving for her first tour in eighteen 478 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: ninety two. She made a lot of friends. In particular, 479 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: there was a woman named Jean Johnson. The two of 480 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: them really loved to spend time in the outdoors, canoeing 481 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: and just generally hanging out and being a source of 482 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: mutual support for each other. Although Pauline's touring partners were men, 483 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: when it came to friendship and emotional connection, most of 484 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: the people closest to her were women. At one point, 485 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: she said in a letter quote women are fonder of 486 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: me than men are. I have had none failed me. 487 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: And I hope I have failed none. It is a 488 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: keen pleasure for me to meet a congenial woman, one 489 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: that I feel will understand me and will in turn 490 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,719 Speaker 1: let me peep into her own life, having confidence in 491 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 1: me that this is one of the dearest things between friends, strangers, acquaintances, 492 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: or kindred in. Pauline Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer. 493 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: She had noticed a lump in one of her breasts 494 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: a couple of years before, but she hadn't thought treatment. 495 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: Apart from the stigma associated with cancer in general and 496 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: breast cancer specifically, they're just weren't that many options for 497 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: treatment at the time. By the time this was diagnosed, 498 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: her ronely option was a mastectomy, but by the time 499 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: that diagnosis happened, her cancer had already metastasized. Pauline had 500 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: always tried to do things is her own way, and 501 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: she refused to ask for help. In nineteen eleven, some 502 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: of her friends organized the Pauline Johnson Trust to try 503 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: to raise money for her medical care and living expenses. 504 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: Canada's system of universal health care was still decades away 505 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,239 Speaker 1: at this point. In nineteen eleven, her friends helped her 506 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: publish Legends of Vancouver, which was a collection of Squamish 507 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: legends and stories told to her by Sapoluk, who had 508 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: died on March tenth, nineteen ten. This was not the 509 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: title Pauline wanted for this book. These stories were not 510 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: about Vancouver at all, but her friends believed that the 511 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: book would sell better with that name, and they may 512 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: have been right. The first printing of one thousand copies 513 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: sold out within a week. Other editions followed, with more 514 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: than twenty thousand copies sold over the course of about 515 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: a year. Pauline was really sick by this point, and 516 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: she finished Legends of Vancouver by dictating her work to 517 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: her editor. Another book titled Flint and Feather followed in 518 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve, and its publication seems to have been particularly 519 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: frustrating and chaotic. Pauline might not have been well enough 520 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: to prove the manuscript herself, like the documentation on this 521 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: is a little fuzzy, and afterwards she was dismayed at 522 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: a number of misprints and omitted verses. There. When Eva 523 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: heard how sick her sister was, she went to Vancouver. 524 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: She and Pauline had not seen each other in years 525 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: at that point, and although their relationship had improved since 526 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 1: its very lowest point, there was still a lot of 527 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: tension between them. They disagreed over everything from money to 528 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: where Pauline should be buried. They also just had totally 529 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:44,479 Speaker 1: incompatible approaches to Pauline's illness. Pauline refused to acknowledge your 530 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: talk about it, while Eva wanted her to stop seemingly 531 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: ignoring the fact that she was dying. Pauline Johnson died 532 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: on March seventh, nine, even though she'd ask for nobody 533 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: to see her body. After her death, her friend Charles Marega, 534 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: who was a sculptor, may a death mask of her. 535 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,720 Speaker 1: Her body was cremated, and at her request, her ashes 536 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: were buried at Stanley Park in Vancouver. Although some of 537 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,600 Speaker 1: the land that became the park had been used as 538 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: a cemetery before that, burials were not being done there anymore. 539 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: She was the only person to be legally buried there 540 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: after the park was established in eighteen eighty six. There 541 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: was really a massive public outpouring for her funeral, with 542 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 1: people just lining the streets of Vancouver to see her 543 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 1: funeral procession, but the burial at the park was private. 544 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: In her will, Pauline left her performance costume and many 545 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: of her other belongings to the Museum of Vancouver. Some 546 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: of her papers and clippings from her tours are collected 547 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: at McMaster University. Pauline's book Moccasin Maker was published posthumously 548 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen Some of her other works were collected and 549 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 1: republished after her death as well. In the Women's Canadian 550 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: Club did a monument at her burial site in the Park. 551 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: There had been plans for a much bigger and more 552 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: elaborate monument, but it was decided to be too expensive 553 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: in light of World War One. When Pauline's sister Evelyn 554 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: died in nineteen thirty seven, she left Chiefswood to the 555 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:18,839 Speaker 1: Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Chief's Wood was 556 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,160 Speaker 1: recognized as a historic site in nineteen fifty three and 557 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: it opened in a as a museum in nineteen sixty three. 558 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 1: It is still a museum. It is currently closed for renovations. 559 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: Pauline Johnson was tremendously famous during her life, and she's 560 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 1: probably the most widely read indigenous poet in Canada. In 561 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, she was named a National Historic Person. 562 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: In sixteen, Johnson was one of the women considered to 563 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,839 Speaker 1: be shown on a Canadian bank note, which ultimately went 564 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: to recent podcast subject Viola Desmond. Pauline Johnson was one 565 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: of the most prominent writers and performers in North America 566 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 1: around the turn of the twentieth century, and some aspects 567 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:02,359 Speaker 1: of her legacy or complicated because she was trying to 568 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:06,800 Speaker 1: earn a living by writing, she published a lot of work, 569 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: and that means some of it varies in terms of 570 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: its quality. Audience response to her work has also really 571 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,280 Speaker 1: varied a lot in the century plus since her death, 572 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: as literary and cultural tastes have changed, but writers continue 573 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: to cite her as an influence in their own work today, 574 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 1: especially but not exclusively, Indigenous women writers. I also thought 575 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 1: we would end on one of her nature poems, since 576 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 1: most of the poems we have read from before have 577 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: been uh more about specifically about indigenous culture history, and 578 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,760 Speaker 1: that's one of several sort of topics that she wrote about. 579 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: So this is a nature poem called the Lost Lagoon, 580 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: which was one of her later poems written about a 581 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 1: body of water in Stanley Park. It is dusk on 582 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,280 Speaker 1: the Lost Lagoon and we to dreaming the dusk away 583 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: beneath the drift of a twilight gray beneath the drowse 584 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: of an ending day, and the curve of a golden moon. 585 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: It is dark on the Lost Lagoon, and gone are 586 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: the depths of haunting blue, the grouping goals, the old canoe, 587 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,320 Speaker 1: the singing furs, and the dusk and you. And gone 588 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,200 Speaker 1: is the golden Moon, Oh lure of the Lost Lagoon. 589 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 1: I dreamed tonight that my paddle blurs the purple shade 590 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: where the seaweed stirs. I hear the call of the 591 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: singing furs in the hush of the golden moon. That 592 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: is Paulie Johnson. Uh, do you also have listener mail 593 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: for us? I do. This is from Cassie, and this 594 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: delighted me. Cassie's email is titled Penicillin in Peoria, and 595 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: Cassie wrote, High, Holly and Tracy. I've listened to your 596 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,760 Speaker 1: entire backlog of episodes and constantly recommend your podcast to others. 597 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 1: I'm a closet history nerd in your show makes my 598 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: heart infinitely happy. I'm currently in the middle of the 599 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: Penicillin episode. I had deposit and write to you for 600 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: the first time. Immediately I finally had a reason to 601 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,720 Speaker 1: write in. At the beginning of the episode, you ladies 602 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: chatted about how everyone knows some weird abbreviated version of 603 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:12,120 Speaker 1: how penicillin was created. I was so confused. I was like, what, No, 604 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: it was in a cantalope. Everyone knows that. I legitimately 605 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: stared at my phone and utter confusion. Then I got 606 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 1: about halfway through the episode and it struck me, duh. 607 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:27,280 Speaker 1: I live in Peoria, Illinois. We had the cantelope story 608 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 1: drilled into us from childhood because of the locale. We 609 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 1: also know way too much about a B Lincoln al 610 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: Capone theater and diapers because of this location. Anyway, I 611 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,200 Speaker 1: found it super interesting that I have had a much 612 00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:45,360 Speaker 1: more thorough education on penicillin just because of where I lived. 613 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 1: Attached our pictures of our rescue dog Odin, our Boston 614 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: terrier Loki, and Nala our Geck. Thanks for keeping my 615 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: brain happy. I love your show, Cassie. Thank you so 616 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,439 Speaker 1: much for this email. Cassie. I am always delighted when 617 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:03,040 Speaker 1: we stumble over something that like people local to an 618 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:10,280 Speaker 1: area now innately but other people were clueless about. Also, 619 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: all of these animal pictures are adorable. More get gos 620 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 1: please Yeah, It's also fine to write with us if 621 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,120 Speaker 1: you don't have a reason. If you just want to say, 622 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: look at this dog I saw today, then that is 623 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: also great. Um I'm so glad to know that Peoria 624 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 1: in particular knows about the cantaloupe that was part of penicillin. 625 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 626 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, we were at History podcast i 627 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,280 Speaker 1: heart radio dot com, and we're also all over social 628 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 1: media at miss in History, which is where you'll find 629 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:47,239 Speaker 1: our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. And you can subscribe 630 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,239 Speaker 1: to our show on the I heart Radio app and 631 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: wherever else you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you 632 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 633 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I 634 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,640 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 635 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:08,440 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. H