One of the most famous Canadian writers of all time, Emily Pauline Johnson was born on the Six Nations Reserve in the Grand River valley, close to Brantford, Ontario. Her father, Chief George Johnson, was one of a line of hereditary chiefs who had distinguished themselves in fighting for the British in the American Revolution and the War of 1812; her mother, Emily Howells, was an Englishwoman whose father was a prominent abolitionist in the United States, and whose cousin, William Dean Howells, was the editor of the prestigious Harper’s magazine. From her parents, Johnson learned to value both sides of her ancestry: her mother introduced her to the classics of English and American literature, while her father and grandfather, themselves ardent British loyalists, also instilled in her a profound pride in her Mohawk heritage by telling stories of their ancestors. |
