Actors - Dennis Banks

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	Actors - Dennis Banks

Dennis Banks (born April 12, 1937), a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.

In 1968 he co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM), and established it to protect the traditional ways of Indian people and to engage in legal cases protecting treaty rights of Natives, such as hunting and fishing, trapping, and wild rice farming.

He participated in the occupation of Alcatraz Island. In 1972 he assisted in the organization, as part of AIM, of the Trail of Broken Treaties' caravan across the U.S. to Washington, D.C. calling attention to the plight of Native Americans. The caravan members anticipated meeting with Congressional leaders about related issues; however, government officials refused to meet with delegates of this group which resulted in the seizure and occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office.

He also spearheaded the move on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1973 to oust corruption and the U.S. appointed chairman. These activities led to the occupation of Wounded Knee and a siege of 71 days which received national attention. Banks was the principal negotiator and leader of the Wounded Knee forces.

Under his leadership, AIM led a protest in Custer, South Dakota in 1973 against judicial process that found a white man innocent of murdering an Indian. As a result of his involvement in Wounded Knee and Custer, Banks and 300 others were arrested and faced trial. He was acquitted of the Wounded Knee charges, but was convicted of riot and assault stemming from a confrontation at Custer. Refusing the prison term, Banks went underground,organized a small armed AIM group,which included Anna Mae Pictou Aquash,who he suspected of being an FBI informant,she was later found executed. He received amnesty in California by then Governor Jerry Brown, along with monetary aid from actor Marlon Brando.

During this time in California, from 1976 to 1983, Banks earned an associate's degree at Davis University and taught at Deganawida Quetzecoatl (DQ) University (an all Indian-controlled institution), where he became the first American Indian chancellor. He also established the first spiritual run from Davis to Los Angeles in 1978 (now an annual event). In the Spring of 1979 he taught at Stanford University. After Governor Brown left office, Banks received sanctuary on the Onondaga Nation in upstate New York in 1984. while in NY, Banks organized the Great Jim Thorpe Longest Run from New York to LA, where the goal was to restore the gold medals Thorpe had won at the 1912 Olympics to the Thorpe family.

In 1985 Banks left Onondaga to surrender to law enforcement officials in South Dakota and served 18 months in prison. When released, he worked as a drug and alcohol counselor on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. During 1987 graverobbers in Uniontown, Kentucky were halted in their digging for artifacts in American Indian grave sites. Banks was called in to organize the reburial ceremonies. His activities resulted in Kentucky and Indiana passing strict legislation against grave desecration.

He has had roles in the movies War Party, The Last of the Mohicans
, and Thunderheart
. A musical cassette "Still Strong featuring Banks' original work as well as traditional Native American songs was completed in 1993. He can also be heard on other musical CD's: Peter Gabriel's Les Musiques du Monde, Peter Matthiessen's No Boundaries.

Currently (February 11, 2006 - April 22, 2006) Banks is leading Sacred Run 2006 (), running/walking from San Francisco's Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C. The runners follow the ancient Native American tradition of bringing a message of Land, Life and Peace from village to village. They are traveling about 100 miles every day, intending to enter Washington, D.C. on Earth Day, April 22, 2006. Along the way, they will take a southern route, in solidarity with those who are rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Major events are planned in Phoenix, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, New Orleans, LA, Philadelphia, MS, Knoxville, TN, Maxton, NC, and Washington, D.C. Over the past 28 years since "The Longest Walk" in 1978, Sacred Run has become an international movement. This year's Sacred Run has runners from Japan, Okinawa, Australia, Ireland, and Canada as well as many from the United States.

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Actors - Dennis Banks

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