Nov 1, 2016 3 min read

When Todd Johnson was a youngster, he noticed that his friends celebrated and embraced their individual culture and heritage.

Johnson, who is of Huron heritage, said he asked his parent, “Why don’t we do anything special?”

He said he wanted to know why his family didn’t do what his American Indian ancestors did – tanning hides and creating things by hand. His parents brushed him off, telling him they didn’t do those things anymore.

“I began to ask some of the older generation how to do these things, and once they realized I was serious, they began to teach me,” Johnson said.

He added that he got his American Indian name from those elders, who told him that because he was persistent about the past, he had a “ghost in the head,” which means living in the past.

Now the McKeesport resident recreates and demonstrates American Indian life from the 18th century.

He has been demonstrating the life of the Huron and Eastern American Indian people since the 1990s. He said the local area is filled with American Indian history that isn’t taught in schools.

His programs demonstrate everyday life of the Huron, including tanning hides, making fishing nets and doing quill work.

“When I do a program, I want people to know the real stuff; I don’t teach politically correct stuff that some of our books tell us about the American Indian. If anyone tells you an absolute in history, you should walk away and question it,” he said.

Johnson holds seminars for both adults and children, gearing the events to the audience.

“I generally let the public lead the discussion to the type of program that I conduct. I encourage questions.” he said.

Johnson said he learned most of his history by going to libraries and reading journals and diaries of real people.

“The purpose of my programs is to educate people about the Eastern Native American people,” he said.

Johnson looks the part at his programs, with his hair shaved past the front hairline and long in the back. He wears a headdress fashioned from feathers or a bear helmet. His clothing is made of tanned deer hide, and he is adorned with various handcrafted items.

In addition to his education programs at various local museums, such at as Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Avella, Johnson creates handcrafted items from porcupine quills, wampum, hides, beads and deer hair that were once used in trade and by the native people. He also has also been featured in American Indian paintings by artist Andrew Knez Jr.

Johnson will conduct a free presentation from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at Monongahela Area Library. Space is limited. Call 724-258-5409 to register.