Dennis Banks
Encyclopedia
Dennis Banks a Native American
leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe
born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation
in northern Minnesota
. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig (Naawakamig in the Double Vowel System). His name in the Ojibwe language
means "In the Center of the Ground." He has been a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement
, which he cofounded in 1968 with Native Americans in Minneapolis, Minnesota
.
(AIM) in Minneapolis. They were seeking to ensure and protect the civil rights of Native Americans living in urban areas, whom they believed were being discriminated against by law enforcement. Their related goals became 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.
Banks participated in the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz Island
, initiated by Indian students from San Francisco of the Red Power movement
, and intended to highlight Native American issues and promote Indian sovereignty on their own lands. In 1972 he assisted in the organization of AIM's "Trail of Broken Treaties
", a caravan of numerous activist groups across the United States to Washington, D.C. to call attention to the plight of Native Americans. The caravan members anticipated meeting with United States Congress leaders about related issues; but government officials, most notably Harrison Loesch
, the Interior Department Assistant Secretary responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), refused to meet with delegates. The activists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Department of Interior and vandalized the offices of the BIA. Many valuable Indian land deeds were destroyed or lost during the occupation.
Banks went to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota
in 1973 when the local civil rights organization asked for help in dealing with law enforcement authorities in nearby border towns. Residents of Pine Ridge believed the police had failed to prosecute the murder of a young Lakota man. Under Banks' leadership, AIM led a protest in Custer, South Dakota
in 1973 against judicial proceeding that reduced the charges to a second degree offense against a white man accused of murdering a Native American.
AIM became involved in the political faction wanting to oust the elected chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Richard Wilson
. A failure of an impeachment proceeding against him led to a large protest. Banks and other AIM activists led an armed takeover and occupation of Wounded Knee
. After a siege of 71 days by federal armed law enforcement, which received national attention, the occupation was ended. Thirty resident families returned to the village to find that their homes and businesses had been looted and destroyed by the activists. The town was never rebuilt. Banks was the principal negotiator and leader of the Wounded Knee forces. Subsequent investigation of Wilson found questionable accounting practices, but no evidence of criminal offenses.
As a result of involvement in Custer and Wounded Knee, Banks and 300 others were arrested and faced trial. He was acquitted of the Wounded Knee charges, but was convicted of incitement to riot and assault stemming from the earlier confrontation at Custer.
Refusing the prison term, Banks went underground and organized a small armed AIM group. It included Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, considered the highest-ranking woman in AIM. About this time, the two were also involved in a personal relationship. After disappearing from Denver in late 1975, Aquash was found murdered in February 1976 at the Pine Ridge Reservation. She had been shot in the back of the head execution style, and her murder was unsolved for decades.
Banks was given amnesty in California by then Governor Jerry Brown
, who refused to extradite him to South Dakota to face the charges related to activities in Custer. He also received financial support from actor and AIM sympathizer Marlon Brando
.
In January 2003 a federal grand jury indicted Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham in the murder of Aquash. Since 2004 they have been convicted by federal and state juries; each is serving a life sentence. Witnesses at the 2004 trial of Arlo Looking Cloud included Kamook Nichols, Banks' former wife, who testified that she believed Aquash had been ordered killed by AIM leaders who feared she might be an informant. Aquash and Nichols had heard Leonard Peltier
brag in 1975 about having shot FBI agents earlier that year at Pine Ridge. Peltier was convicted of the shooting of the agents in 1977.
In 2008, Vine Richard "Dick" Marshall was indicted by a federal grand jury for aiding and abetting the murder of Aquash; he was alleged to have provided John Graham with a gun. He was acquitted of the charge. In 1975 he had been serving as one of Banks' bodyguards; Aquash was brought to his house on the Pine Ridge Reservation in December 1975 before being taken to the site of her murder. Authorities continue to investigate the Aquash murder.
from the University of California, Davis
. He taught at Deganawida Quetzecoatl University
(DQU), a Native American-controlled institute of alternative
higher learning
, where he became the first American Indian chancellor
. In 1978 he established the first spiritual run from Davis to Los Angeles
, which is now an annual event. In the spring of 1979, he taught at Stanford University
.
After Governor Brown left office, in 1984 Banks received sanctuary
from the Onondaga Nation in upstate New York
. While in New York, Banks organized the Great Jim Thorpe
Longest Run from New York to Los Angeles; the goal was to restore the gold medal
s 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. He served 18 months in prison related to the 1973 charges for the Custer riot. After his release, he worked as a drug and alcohol counselor on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
. During 1987, grave robbers
in Uniontown, Kentucky
were halted in their digging for artifacts in American Indian grave sites. Banks organized the reburial ceremonies. His activities resulted in the states of Kentucky and Indiana passing strict legislation against grave desecration.
In 2006, Banks led Sacred Run 2006, a spiritual run from San Francisco's Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C.
The runners followed the ancient Native American tradition of bringing a message of "Land, Life and Peace" from village to village. They traveled around 100 miles every day and entered Washington, D.C. on Earth Day
, April 22, 2006. Along the way, they took a southern route in solidarity with those who are rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina and Rita
. Major events were held in Albuquerque
, New Orleans
, Philadelphia
, Knoxville
, and Washington, D.C.
Over the past 30 years since "The Longest Walk" in 1978, Sacred Runs have become an international movement. Sacred Run 2006 had runners from Japan
, Australia
, Ireland
, and Canada
, as well as many from the United States. International "The Longest Walk 2" followed in 2008 the Sacred Run 2006 route, as well as the original route of 1978 walk, ending with the "Manifesto for Change" delivered by Dennis Banks to Representative John Conyers
.
Banks is a member of the Board of Trustees for Leech Lake Tribal College, a public, two-year college located just outside Cass Lake, Minnesota. He participates in governance of and fundraising for the college, which has a student body that is primarily Native American.
(1988), The Last of the Mohicans
(1992), Thunderheart
(1992), and Older Than America
(2008).
The musical release Still Strong (1993) features Banks' original work as well as traditional Native American songs. He can also be heard on other albums: Peter Gabriel
's Les Musiques du Monde and Peter Matthiessen
's No Boundaries.
At Pine Ridge Reservation Banks met Darlene Kamook Nichols, who was 17 and still in high school. He was 32. After she graduated, they started seeing each other and married. They had four daughters and a son together: Tokala, Tiopa, Tisina and Tatanka. They later divorced. (Kamook Nichols remarried and is now known as Darlene Ecoffey).
Banks had one stepdaughter, Danielle Louise Dickey. She was murder
ed in 2007 on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
The Leech Lake Indian Reservation or Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language, is an Native American reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. It is the land-base for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe...
in northern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig (Naawakamig in the Double Vowel System). His name in the Ojibwe language
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
means "In the Center of the Ground." He has been a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
, which he cofounded in 1968 with Native Americans in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
.
Work with AIM
In 1968 Banks co-founded the American Indian MovementAmerican Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
(AIM) in Minneapolis. They were seeking to ensure and protect the civil rights of Native Americans living in urban areas, whom they believed were being discriminated against by law enforcement. Their related goals became 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.
Banks participated in the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
, initiated by Indian students from San Francisco of the Red Power movement
Red Power movement
The phrase "Red Power", attributed to the author Vine Deloria, Jr., commonly expressed a growing sense of pan-Indian identity in the late 1960s among American Indians in the United States....
, and intended to highlight Native American issues and promote Indian sovereignty on their own lands. In 1972 he assisted in the organization of AIM's "Trail of Broken Treaties
Trail of Broken Treaties
The Trail of Broken Treaties was a cross-country protest in the United States by American Indian and First Nations organizations that took place in the autumn of 1972...
", a caravan of numerous activist groups across the United States to Washington, D.C. to call attention to the plight of Native Americans. The caravan members anticipated meeting with United States Congress leaders about related issues; but government officials, most notably Harrison Loesch
Harrison Loesch
Harrison Loesch Prominent Colorado attorney who became Assistant Secretary of Interior under Richard Nixon. He served in that position from 1969 to 1973...
, the Interior Department Assistant Secretary responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), refused to meet with delegates. The activists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Department of Interior and vandalized the offices of the BIA. Many valuable Indian land deeds were destroyed or lost during the occupation.
Banks went to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
in 1973 when the local civil rights organization asked for help in dealing with law enforcement authorities in nearby border towns. Residents of Pine Ridge believed the police had failed to prosecute the murder of a young Lakota man. Under Banks' leadership, AIM led a protest in Custer, South Dakota
Custer, South Dakota
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,067 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County.-History:...
in 1973 against judicial proceeding that reduced the charges to a second degree offense against a white man accused of murdering a Native American.
AIM became involved in the political faction wanting to oust the elected chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Richard Wilson
Dick Wilson (tribal chairman)
Richard A. "Dick" Wilson was elected chairman of the Oglala Lakota Sioux of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he served from 1972–1976, following re-election in 1974...
. A failure of an impeachment proceeding against him led to a large protest. Banks and other AIM activists led an armed takeover and occupation of Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
. After a siege of 71 days by federal armed law enforcement, which received national attention, the occupation was ended. Thirty resident families returned to the village to find that their homes and businesses had been looted and destroyed by the activists. The town was never rebuilt. Banks was the principal negotiator and leader of the Wounded Knee forces. Subsequent investigation of Wilson found questionable accounting practices, but no evidence of criminal offenses.
As a result of involvement in Custer and Wounded Knee, Banks and 300 others were arrested and faced trial. He was acquitted of the Wounded Knee charges, but was convicted of incitement to riot and assault stemming from the earlier confrontation at Custer.
Refusing the prison term, Banks went underground and organized a small armed AIM group. It included Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, considered the highest-ranking woman in AIM. About this time, the two were also involved in a personal relationship. After disappearing from Denver in late 1975, Aquash was found murdered in February 1976 at the Pine Ridge Reservation. She had been shot in the back of the head execution style, and her murder was unsolved for decades.
Banks was given amnesty in California by then Governor Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, who refused to extradite him to South Dakota to face the charges related to activities in Custer. He also received financial support from actor and AIM sympathizer Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
.
In January 2003 a federal grand jury indicted Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham in the murder of Aquash. Since 2004 they have been convicted by federal and state juries; each is serving a life sentence. Witnesses at the 2004 trial of Arlo Looking Cloud included Kamook Nichols, Banks' former wife, who testified that she believed Aquash had been ordered killed by AIM leaders who feared she might be an informant. Aquash and Nichols had heard Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...
brag in 1975 about having shot FBI agents earlier that year at Pine Ridge. Peltier was convicted of the shooting of the agents in 1977.
In 2008, Vine Richard "Dick" Marshall was indicted by a federal grand jury for aiding and abetting the murder of Aquash; he was alleged to have provided John Graham with a gun. He was acquitted of the charge. In 1975 he had been serving as one of Banks' bodyguards; Aquash was brought to his house on the Pine Ridge Reservation in December 1975 before being taken to the site of her murder. Authorities continue to investigate the Aquash murder.
Education and career
During his time in California from 1976 to 1983, Banks earned an associate's degreeAssociate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
from the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
. He taught at Deganawida Quetzecoatl University
D-Q University
D–Q University was a two-year college located on Road 31 in Yolo County, west of State Route 113 in California. The school ended its full time college schedule due to loss of accreditation, declining enrollment, and alleged financial mismanagement in 2005; however students and instructors who...
(DQU), a Native American-controlled institute of alternative
Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
higher learning
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, where he became the first American Indian chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
. In 1978 he established the first spiritual run from Davis to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, which is now an annual event. In the spring of 1979, he taught at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
After Governor Brown left office, in 1984 Banks received sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
from the Onondaga Nation in upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. While in New York, Banks organized the Great Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
Longest Run from New York to Los Angeles; the goal was to restore the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s Thorpe had won at the 1912 Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
to the Thorpe family.
In 1985 Banks left Onondaga to surrender to law enforcement officials in South Dakota. He served 18 months in prison related to the 1973 charges for the Custer riot. After his release, he worked as a drug and alcohol counselor on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
. During 1987, grave robbers
Grave robbing
Grave robbery, grave robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a tomb or crypt to steal artifacts or personal effects. Someone who engages in this act is a grave robber or tomb raider...
in Uniontown, Kentucky
Uniontown, Kentucky
Uniontown is a city in Union County, Kentucky in the United States of America. The population was 1,064 at the 2000 census. The name derives from the fact that the city was formed by merging the towns of Francisburg and Locust Port. The John T...
were halted in their digging for artifacts in American Indian grave sites. Banks organized the reburial ceremonies. His activities resulted in the states of Kentucky and Indiana passing strict legislation against grave desecration.
In 2006, Banks led Sacred Run 2006, a spiritual run from San Francisco's Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The runners followed the ancient Native American tradition of bringing a message of "Land, Life and Peace" from village to village. They traveled around 100 miles every day and entered Washington, D.C. on Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
, April 22, 2006. Along the way, they took a southern route in solidarity with those who are rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
. Major events were held in Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, and Washington, D.C.
Over the past 30 years since "The Longest Walk" in 1978, Sacred Runs have become an international movement. Sacred Run 2006 had runners from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, as well as many from the United States. International "The Longest Walk 2" followed in 2008 the Sacred Run 2006 route, as well as the original route of 1978 walk, ending with the "Manifesto for Change" delivered by Dennis Banks to Representative John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
.
Banks is a member of the Board of Trustees for Leech Lake Tribal College, a public, two-year college located just outside Cass Lake, Minnesota. He participates in governance of and fundraising for the college, which has a student body that is primarily Native American.
Other activities
Banks has had roles in the movies War PartyWar Party (film)
War Party is a 1988 film starring Billy Wirth and Kevin Dillon. The film, set in present day Montana, explores the tension and mistrust that can characterize interactions between Native American and White American cultures....
(1988), The Last of the Mohicans
The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film)
The Last of the Mohicans is a 1992 historical epic film set in 1757 during the French and Indian War and produced by Morgan Creek Pictures. It was directed by Michael Mann and based on James Fenimore Cooper's novel of the same name, although it owes more to George B. Seitz's 1936 film adaptation...
(1992), Thunderheart
Thunderheart
Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...
(1992), and Older Than America
Older Than America (film)
Older Than America is an independently produced award winning film directed by Native American director/actress Georgina Lightning, originally released in 2008...
(2008).
The musical release Still Strong (1993) features Banks' original work as well as traditional Native American songs. He can also be heard on other albums: Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's Les Musiques du Monde and Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...
's No Boundaries.
Marriage and family
According to birth records from Minnesota, Dennis has six children: Janice Banks (born 2 March 1962), Darla Banks (born 18 February 1963), twins Deanna Jane and Dennis James Banks (born 20 April 1964), Red Elk Banks (born 7 June 1970), and Tatanka Wanbli Banks (born 7 September 1971).At Pine Ridge Reservation Banks met Darlene Kamook Nichols, who was 17 and still in high school. He was 32. After she graduated, they started seeing each other and married. They had four daughters and a son together: Tokala, Tiopa, Tisina and Tatanka. They later divorced. (Kamook Nichols remarried and is now known as Darlene Ecoffey).
Banks had one stepdaughter, Danielle Louise Dickey. She was murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed in 2007 on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.
autobiography
- Banks, Dennis & Yuri Morita (1993).Seinaru Tamashii: Gendai American Indian Shidousha no Hansei, Japan, Asahi Bunko.
- Banks, Dennis & Richard Erdoes (2004). Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3580-8 he has a grand daughter named migizi Roberts from Minneapolis Minnesota.