Native American Activist and Co-founder of the American Indian Movement. He lived near Federal Dam on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota, where he was born. He was a member of the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe, one of the many bands of Ojibwe or Anishinabe, also known as Chippewa. In 1968 Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Eddie Benton-Banai, and George Mitchell founded the American Indian Movement (AIM). A year later, he took part in the occupation of Alcatraz Island in California. In 1972, he assisted in 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. That same year AIM took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. In early 1973 AIM members took over and occupied Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for 71 days, which some have come to call Wounded Knee II. His activism continued throughout his life. For example in 2010 Dennis joined several other Ojibwe from Leech Lake and White Earth bands to test their treaty rights concerning setting out nets before fishing opening day on Lake Bemidji in Minnesota.
Native American Activist and Co-founder of the American Indian Movement. He lived near Federal Dam on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota, where he was born. He was a member of the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe, one of the many bands of Ojibwe or Anishinabe, also known as Chippewa. In 1968 Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Eddie Benton-Banai, and George Mitchell founded the American Indian Movement (AIM). A year later, he took part in the occupation of Alcatraz Island in California. In 1972, he assisted in 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. That same year AIM took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. In early 1973 AIM members took over and occupied Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for 71 days, which some have come to call Wounded Knee II. His activism continued throughout his life. For example in 2010 Dennis joined several other Ojibwe from Leech Lake and White Earth bands to test their treaty rights concerning setting out nets before fishing opening day on Lake Bemidji in Minnesota.
Bio by: Sharlotte Neely Donnelly
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