A chance meeting with a Dakota Indian leader forever changed the course of Louis George "Bud" Lawrence's life, leading him to march in support of Dakota Indian causes, co-found an annual powwow and talk frequently about the need for reconciliation with Dakota Indians in his home of Mankato — the site where 38 Dakota men were hanged in 1862 in the nation's largest mass execution.
Doing what he could to make the world more just came naturally to Lawrence, said his daughter, Barbara Kaus.
"When you see something that isn't right, he always wanted to try to make it better," Kaus said.
Lawrence, of Mankato, died Nov. 29. He was 86.
A Norwegian who had dark hair and a dark complexion, Lawrence sometimes had to correct people who thought he had indigenous ancestry. He was raised in Clements and Kasson, Minn., and served in the Army. He worked for the state Department of Natural Resources and eventually became manager of Robby's Restaurant and then Hardee's in Rochester.
Lawrence hired women and people with disabilities to work in the restaurant, upending the customary thinking at the time in the mostly male-dominated fast-food business. He faced criticism for the hires, said Kaus, but stuck with them because he felt it was the right thing to do.
"Dad was someone of great character and integrity," she said.
It was while camping and fishing with his family on the Mississippi River near the Prairie Island Indian Community that he met Amos Owen, a Dakota Sioux spiritual leader. The two developed a deep friendship, and eventually, in a measure of respect for the Dakota Sioux history of the region, Lawrence helped Owen and Jim Buckley establish the Mahkato Wacipi Powwow in 1972.
