Early Indigenous Literatures

Canadian Poet-Reciter

Displaying none of the uncertainty of the character in Johnson’s story about the status of Indigenous people as “foreigners,” this description of Johnson incorporates her into the Canadian national image. Establishing her as both a poet and performer, it suggests that her literary success is central to her appeal. Underlined by a flourish and written in bolded font, its position in the upper left corner also lends it significance—its size allows one’s eye to move from Johnson’s status as “Canadian Poet-Reciter,” to her “Successes Abroad” and “Notable Appearances in the Metropolis of the World,” and finally to her tour “From Europe to Vancouver,” a triangle of text (unevenly) anchoring Johnson’s photographic image within her international status and connection to Europe.

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