- Born:
- April 12, 1937, Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota, U.S.
Dennis Banks
-
Who was Dennis Banks?
Dennis Banks (1937-2017) was an Ojibwe activist and a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), a Native rights organization.
After being released from prison in 1968, Banks, along with Clyde Bellecourt and others, established AIM to assist Native people in Minneapolis adapt to urban life. As AIM expanded, so did its goals, and Banks and Russell Means became the group’s most prominent leaders. Together, they organized protests, including the Trail of Broken Treaties and the occupation of Wounded Knee. Later in life, Banks appeared in films such as Thunderheart (1992) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992).
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What is Dennis Banks best known for?
Dennis Banks, born on the Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota, in 1937, was an Ojibwe activist and a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM aimed to help Native people in Minneapolis adapt to urban life but soon became known for advocating Native rights nationwide.
Banks and AIM gained notoriety through events such as the 18-month occupation of Alcatraz Island, a Thanksgiving Day protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Trail of Broken Treaties, a cross-country car caravan to Washington, D.C. In 1973, Banks and other AIM members occupied Wounded Knee, the site of an 1890 massacre of Lakota Sioux, to protest corruption and mistreatment of Native peoples. Later in life, Banks appeared in films such as Thunderheart and The Last of the Mohicans.
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What organization did Dennis Banks help to found?
Dennis Banks, an Ojibwe activist, co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968. AIM's initial goal was to support Native people displaced in cities by U.S. federal programs, but it grew to address a wide range of Native concerns, including economic independence, cultural revitalization, legal rights protection, tribal autonomy, and land restoration. Banks led high-profile protests that brought awareness to the U.S. government’s mistreatment of Native peoples. AIM was involved in highly publicized protests such as the occupation of Alcatraz Island, the Trail of Broken Treaties demonstration, and the occupation of Wounded Knee.
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What were some of the main goals of the American Indian Movement (AIM)?
The American Indian Movement (AIM), co-founded in 1968 by Dennis Banks, aimed to aid urban Native Americans displaced by government programs. Over time, its goals broadened to encompass economic independence, cultural revitalization, legal rights protection, tribal autonomy, and land restoration.
Banks and AIM gained national attention through protests, including the occupation of Alcatraz Island, a Thanksgiving Day protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the "Trail of Broken Treaties" to Washington, D.C.. In 1973, Banks and Russell Means led the occupation of Wounded Knee to protest corruption and mistreatment of Native peoples. AIM's efforts in the mid-1970s focused on preventing resource exploitation of Native lands.
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What major protest was Dennis Banks involved in during the 1970s?
Dennis Banks, a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), was involved in several major protests during the 1970s. In 1972, Banks helped organize the Trail of Broken Treaties, a march to Washington, D.C., to advocate for Native rights, which led to the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building. In 1973, he co-organized the occupation of Wounded Knee, a protest against corruption and mistreatment of Native peoples that resulted in a standoff with federal authorities. In 1978, AIM held its last major demonstration with the Longest Walk protest.
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How did Dennis Banks contribute to the rights of Native Americans throughout his life?
Dennis Banks, born on the Leech Lake Reservation, was an Ojibwe activist and a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM's initial goal was to assist Native people in Minneapolis adjust to urban life, but it soon became known for its strong advocacy of Native rights.
Banks led high-profile protests that increased awareness about the U.S. government’s long history of mistreatment of Native peoples. In 1972, Banks organized the Trail of Broken Treaties, a car caravan to Washington, D.C., to demand recognition of Native rights. Another protest was the occupation of Wounded Knee, the site of an 1890 massacre, to call attention to local corruption and mistreatment of Native peoples.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Dennis Banks (born April 12, 1937, Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota, U.S.—died October 29, 2017, Rochester, Minnesota) was an Ojibwe activist and a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), a prominent Native rights organization. Banks led high-profile protests that increased awareness about the U.S. government’s long history of mistreatment of Native peoples.
Early life
Banks was born on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. His Ojibwe name was Nowa-Cumig (meaning “in the centre”), and he was a member of the Turtle Clan. He was raised in poverty by his grandparents, and, when he was just five years old, he was taken away from them and sent to a boarding school for Native children. He attended a series of such schools but ran away from them often. When Banks was 17 years old, he ran away for the last time and returned to Leech Lake. Unable to find work, he joined the U.S. Air Force. While stationed in Japan, Banks married a Japanese woman and went absent without leave. He was arrested and returned to the United States. After his discharge from the military, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he struggled to provide for his family and became involved in petty crime. In 1966 he was convicted for burglarizing a grocery store, and he subsequently spent about two and a half years in prison.
Founding the American Indian Movement
Banks was released from prison in 1968. Once free, he, along with Clyde Bellecourt (an Ojibwe man he met in prison) and others, founded the American Indian Movement (AIM). The original purpose of the group was to help the Native people of Minneapolis adjust to urban life. However, as AIM membership grew, so did the goals of the organization. AIM would soon become known nationwide for its bold advocacy of Native rights. In 1969 Banks met Russell Means, and the two became AIM’s most prominent leaders.
Banks and other members of AIM joined a group called the Indians of All Tribes in an 18-month occupation of Alcatraz Island that began in November 1969. AIM next achieved notoriety with a Thanksgiving Day protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1970. Banks and Means declared that the holiday should be a national day of mourning for everything Native peoples had lost since the arrival of European settlers in the Americas. Some AIM members took over a replica of the Mayflower, the ship that carried the Pilgrims. In 1972 Banks and Means organized the Trail of Broken Treaties, in which hundreds of Native activists traveled in a cross-country car caravan to Washington, D.C. The leaders of the protest planned to meet with government officials to demand the recognition of Native rights. When they arrived in Washington, D.C., however, the meetings were canceled. AIM members then occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs building for six days.
Banks and Means organized another protest in 1973. They led about 200 AIM members and their allies in the occupation of Wounded Knee, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Wounded Knee was the site of an 1890 massacre in which U.S. troops killed as many as 300 Lakota Sioux. Banks and AIM wanted to call attention to local corruption on the Pine Ridge Reservation as well as the ongoing mistreatment of Native peoples. Federal authorities surrounded the town, beginning a tense standoff that lasted more than two months. Two activists were killed by gunfire, and one federal marshal was seriously wounded. Banks and Means were tried for their roles in the occupation, but the case against them was eventually dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Banks still faced trial, however, for another incident. Just weeks before the Wounded Knee occupation began, Banks had led AIM members in a confrontation with police in Custer, South Dakota. They were protesting because a white man had killed a Native man in a fight but had not been charged with murder. Rather, he had been charged with involuntary manslaughter, a less serious offense. The protest turned into a riot, and Banks was charged with rioting and assault. He was found guilty in 1975.
Later years and film career
Following the verdict, Banks fled. He spent nine years as a fugitive, first in California and then in New York. In 1984 he returned to South Dakota, turned himself in, and served 14 months in prison. Upon his release he moved to the Pine Ridge Reservation and became a counselor for residents with addictions to drugs or alcohol. In later years Banks appeared in a number of films, including Thunderheart (1992) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992), in which he appeared with Means. In the 1990s he founded a maple syrup and wild rice company. His memoir, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement (written with Richard Erdoes), was published in 2004.
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