Dennis Banks (April 12, 1937 – October 29, 2017) was a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist, actor and author. He was an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks was also known as Nowa Cumig. His name in the Ojibwe language means "In the Center of the Universe". He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in 1968 with Native Americans in Minneapolis.