The Moccasin Maker

The Moccasin Maker, by E.
Pauline Johnson

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Title: The Moccasin Maker
Author: E. Pauline Johnson

Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6600] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 30,
2002] [Last updated: January 4, 2003]
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
MOCCASIN MAKER ***

Produced by Andrew Sly

This collection of prose written by Pauline Johnson was first assembled
and published shortly after her death in 1913.

THE MOCCASIN MAKER
By E. Pauline Johnson
With introduction by Sir Gilbert Parker and appreciation by Charles
Mair.
Dedicated to Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P. Whose work in literature has
brought honour to Canada
CONTENTS
Introduction
Pauline Johnson: An Appreciation
My Mother

Catharine of the "Crow's Nest"
A Red Girl's Reasoning
The Envoy Extraordinary
A Pagan in St. Paul's Cathedral
As It Was in the Beginning
The Legend of Lillooet Falls
Her Majesty's Guest
Mother o' the Men
The Nest Builder
The Tenas Klootchman
The Derelict

INTRODUCTION
The inducement to be sympathetic in writing a preface to a book like
this is naturally very great. The authoress was of Indian blood, and
lived the life of the Indian on the Iroquois Reserve with her chieftain
father and her white mother for many years; and though she had white
blood in her veins was insistently and determinedly Indian to the end.
She had the full pride of the aboriginal of pure blood, and she was
possessed of a vital joy in the legends, history and language of the
Indian race from which she came, crossed by good white stock. But
though the inducement to be sympathetic in the case of so chivalrous a
being who stood by the Indian blood rather than by the white blood in
her is great, there is, happily, no necessity for generosity or
magnanimity in the case of Pauline Johnson. She was not great, but her
work in verse in sure and sincere; and it is alive with the true spirit of

poetry. Her skill in mere technique is good, her handling of narrative is
notable, and if there is no striking individuality--which might have
been expected from her Indian origin--if she was often reminiscent in
her manner, metre, form and expression, it only proves her a minor poet
and not a Tennyson or a Browning. That she should have done what
she did do, devotedly, with an astonishing charm and the delight of
inspired labour, makes her life memorable, as it certainly made both
life and work beautiful. The pain and suffering which attended the
latter part of her life never found its way into her work save through
increased sweetness and pensiveness. No shadow of death fell upon her
pages. To the last the soul ruled the body to its will. Phenomenon
Pauline Johnson was, though to call her a genius would be to place her
among the immortals, and no one was more conscious of her
limitations than herself. Therefore, it would do her memory poor
service to give her a crown instead of a coronet.
Poet she was, lyric and singing and happy, bright-visioned,
high-hearted, and with the Indian's passionate love of nature thrilling in
all she did, even when from the hunting-grounds of poesy she brought
back now and then a poor day's capture. She was never without charm
in her writing; indeed, mere charm was too often her undoing. She
could not be impersonal enough, and therefore could not be great; but
she could get very near to human sympathies, to domestic natures, to
those who care for pleasant, happy things, to the lovers of the wild.
This is what she has done in this book called "The Moccasin Maker."
Here is a good deal that is biographical and