Tadd Johnson

Speaker Tadd Johnson began his small group presentation with a brief overview of his career representing and advocating for Indigenous people. At the beginning of his career, Johnson was working on the Lake Mille Lacs reservation when he discovered they needed the representation of an attorney. He worked representing the people of this reservation for three years. Next, he began working under the Clinton Administration restoring the rights of tribes that had been revoked in the Termination Act of 1954. Currently, Johnson is working for the University of Minnesota on a truth and reconciliation project. He is working to uncover their history of wrongdoings towards Native Americans. “We’re doing a truth and reconciliation project right now,” said Johnson, “and we are working on the truth part. What the tribes want when I talk to them is a tuition waiver. That’s what a lot of tribes are aiming for as far as reconciliation goes.”