Dennis Banks

Birth : 1937-04-12, Leech Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA

Death : 2007-10-29

History

Dennis Banks (Ojibwe) was a Native American activist, teacher, and author. He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), which he co-founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1968 to represent urban Indians.

Movies

California Indian
Himself
Nick Thomas, a Pomo Indian and a successful Los Angeles radio host, is forced back to the reservation to help his brother Chi, and tribal leader Rich Knight lead the Tule Lake Rancheria out of danger from a seedy casino investor. At risk is whether the Native American Tribe members decide to accept a payment for instant gratification, or retain rights over the Casino project for a long-term benefit. Based on a true story and actual events at the Pomo Indian Tribe reservation in Northern California. The struggles inherent on reservations today are depicted in this true to life drama transcending current stereotypes of modern Native American culture to showcase the depths of the heritage that thrives today.
A Good Day to Die
Himself - Co-Founder, American Indian Movement; Ojibwa
Interviews and archival footage profile the life of Dennis Banks, American Indian Movement leader who looks back at his early life and the rise of the Movement.
Older Than America
Pete Goodfeather
The truth of the past come to light in a series of haunting visions in this drama. The strange visions grow more vivid with each passing day, a young woman of Native American heritage begins piecing together a Catholic priests diabolical plot to prevent her mother from revealing the atrocities that unfolded at a Native Indian boarding school.
Making A Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie Robertson
Self - AIM leader (archive footage)
This doc explores "The Band" guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson's Native American background. Half Mohawk on his mother's side, the film follows him back to the Six Nations reservation in Ontario where he spent summers growing up and picked up his first guitar. The resulting album, "Contact From the Underworld of Red Boy", draws on his childhood First Nation influences and includes musical collaborations wth Native artists such as John Trudell, Rita Coolidge and Buffy Ste Marie.
All Power to the People!
Self (archive footage)
Using government documents, archive footage and direct interviews with activists and former FBI/CIA officers, All Power to the People documents the history of race relations and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States during the 1960s and 70s. Covering the history of slavery, civil-rights activists, political assassinations and exploring the methods used to divide and destroy key figures of movements by government forces, the film then contrasts into Reagan-Era events, privacy threats from new technologies and the failure of the “War on Drugs”, forming a comprehensive view of the goals, aspirations and ultimate demise of the Civil Rights Movement…
The Last of the Mohicans
Ongewasgone
In war-torn colonial America, in the midst of a bloody battle between British, the French and Native American allies, the aristocratic daughter of a British Colonel and her party are captured by a group of Huron warriors. Fortunately, a group of three Mohican trappers comes to their rescue.
Incident at Oglala
Himself - Co-Founder American Indian Movement
On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.