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.

About the Editor:

Alix Shield is a settler scholar of English and Scottish descent, and a term lecturer for the Department of Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University. Alix completed her PhD at SFU in 2020, and was awarded an Emerging Open Scholarship Award by the Canadian Social Knowledge Institute in 2021 for contributions to The People and the Text web database of Indigenous authors. Alix is privileged to live as a guest on the traditional territories of the Hul’qumi’num-speaking Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island.