Flint and Feather

Flint and Feather Synopsis

Flint and Feather (1913) is a collection of the complete poems of E. Pauline Johnson. Revered as one the foremost Canadian poets of her time, Johnson was a prolific writer whose works explored her Mohawk heritage while shedding light on the racism and persecution faced by indigenous peoples across North America."e;The lyrical verse herein is as a 'Skyward floating feather, / Sailing on summer air.' And yet that feather may be the eagle plume that crests the head of a warrior chief; so both flint and feather bear the hall-mark of my Mohawk blood."e; So states Johnson in the foreword to her complete poems, Flint and Feather, a collection that captures not only her range as a poet in tune with the Romantic tradition, but her dualistic sense of identity as a woman of Mohawk and English heritage. Choosing to emphasize the former, Johnson, who also went by Tekahionwake, her great-grandfather's name, adopts the persona of an Indian wife who, watching her love depart, wonders what he will "e;suffer from the white man's hand."e; In fear, in anger, in desperation, she proclaims "e;By right, by birth we Indians own these lands, / Though starved, crushed, plundered, lies our nation low In the face of defeat, she offers a poetry in tune with the "e;ghost upon the shore,"e; the voices one hears "e;when the Northern candles light the Northern sky."e; Johnson's voice is thus both one of resistance and mourning, her song one of a land of plains and rivers, of fields that await the harvest despite the "e;prying pilot crow"e; whose "e;thieving raids"e; descend "e;[a]t husking time."e;With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of E. Pauline Johnson's Flint and Feather is a classic of Canadian literature reimagined for modern readers.

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