Bringing the Legends home

Legends of the Capilano updates E. Pauline Johnson’s 1911 classic Legends of Vancouver, restoring Johnson’s intended title for the first time. This new edition celebrates the storytelling abilities of Johnson’s Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) collaborators, Joe and Mary Capilano, and supplements the original fifteen legends with five additional stories narrated solely or in part by Mary Capilano, highlighting her previously overlooked contributions to the book.

Alongside photographs and biographical entries for E. Pauline Johnson, Joe Capilano, and Mary Capilano, editor Alix Shield provides a detailed publishing history of Legends since its first appearance in 1911. Interviews with literary scholar Rick Monture (Mohawk) and archaeologist Rudy Reimer (Skwxwú7mesh) further considers the legacy of Legends in both scholars’ home communities. Compiled in consultation with the Mathias family, the direct descendants of Joe and Mary Capilano and members of the Skwxwú7mesh Nation, this edition reframes, reconnects, and reclaims the stewardship of these stories.

E. Pauline Johnson (1861-1913), known also by her Kanienʼkehá꞉ka name Tekahionwake, was a widely-known poet, performer, and writer born on Six Nations of the Grand River territory (near Brantford, Ontario).

E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)'s profile page

Joe Capilano (c.1854-1910), known also by his Sḵwx̱wú7mesh name Sahp-luk, was a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh leader, activist, and orator from Xwmelch’sten (Capilano Reserve no. 5 in North Vancouver, BC). He is known for making the journey from Vancouver to London, England in 1906 to visit King Edward VII in protest of changes to seasonal Indigenous fishing and hunting rights.

Joe Capilano (Sahp-luk)'s profile page

Mary Agnes Capilano (c.1840-1940), known also by her Sḵwx̱wú7mesh name Lixwelut, was a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh matriarch (and wife to Joe Capilano) known for her activism and leadership in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh community. She was a respected basket-weaver, and was often seen paddling her dugout canoe between Xwmelch’sten and Downtown Vancouver to sell fresh seafood and baskets in the city.

Mary Agnes Capilano (Lixwelut)'s profile page

Alix Shield teaches in the Department of Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University. Her current research analyzes collaboratively-authored twentieth and twenty-first century Indigenous women’s literatures in Canada.

Alix Shield's profile page

"The strength of this newest (and possibly definitive) version of Johnson’s influential text is the massive introduction provided by Shield (spanning over 70 pages), which is not only comprehensive and enlightening in the additional context it provides for Johnson herself, and the publication and republication of Johnson’s text over the years, but also in the incorporation of the voices of people affected or influenced by Johnson’s text – that is to say, the voices of the Capilanos themselves as well as their descendants. This text is a testament to what rigorous archival work can reveal and produce."

BC Studies