Education and Career
During his time in California from 1976 to 1983, Banks earned an associate's degree 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 medals 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.
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