Pauline Johnson was born on March 10, 1861 in the family home at the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. Born to an English mother and Mohawk father, she straddled both cultures throughout her life. A lover of books and poetry, she started writing in her teens. 🧵2/12

In the 1880s, she started to perform in amateur theatre productions. These performances became especially important for income after the death of her father in 1884. In 1885, she published her first poem, My Little Jean. It was the first of many published poems for her. 🧵3/12