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Dennis Banks Naawakamig | |
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| Born | April 12, 1937 Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | October 29, 2017 Rochester, Minnesota, United States |
| Nationality | Anishinaabe |
Dennis J. Banks (April 12, 1937 – October 29, 2017) was an Anishinaabe warrior and freedom fighter who co-founded the American Indian Movement in 1968.[1] He participated in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and ran for Vice President in 2016 with Gloria La Riva.[2] Banks supported the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutions and opposed the occupation of Iraq.[1]
Early life
Banks was born on April 12, 1937 on the Leech Lake Ojibwe/Anishinaabe reservation in Minnesota. At the age of five, the U.S. government kidnapped him and forced him to live in residential schools for 11 years. He tried to run away several times. At the age of 17, he joined the army and went to Japan and then deserted after seeing the repression of the U.S. occupation. The U.S. sent him to prison in 1966, where he was radicalized.[1]
Political activism
On July 28, 1968, Banks and his friend George Mitchell organized a meeting to address police brutality, prisons, and broken treaties. That night, they founded the American Indian Movement with Banks as the field director. The FBI targeted him and other AIM leaders as part of COINTELPRO. Banks participated in the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation and fled to California after facing assault and riot charges for his actions against white supremacists in Custer, South Dakota. He later returned to South Dakota and spent 14 months in prison.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gloria La Riva (2017-10-31). "People’s hero, AIM founder Dennis Banks 1937-2017" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
- ↑ "In Iowa you can vote for presidential candidates protesting for #NODAPL" (2016-08-29). Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2023-01-14.