During the 1880s, Johnson built her reputation as a Canadian writer, regularly publishing in periodicals such as "Globe", "The Week", and "Saturday Night". In the late 1880s and early 1890s, she published nearly every month, mostly in "Saturday Night". Johnson is considered among a group of Canadian authors who were contributing to a distinct national literature. The inclusion of two of her poems in W. D. Lighthall's anthology, "Songs of the Great Dominion" (1889), signalled her recognition. Theodore Watts-Dunton noted her for praise in his review of the book; he quoted her entire poem "In the Shadows" and called her "the most interesting poetess now living". In her early works, Johnson wrote mostly about Canadian life, landscapes, and love in a post-Romantic mode, reflective of literary interests shared with her mother, rather than her Mohawk heritage.