EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 28, 2011) -- Dennis Banks, who co-founded the American Indian Movement and led a series of high-profile protests in the 1970s, will speak at 7 p.m. May 13 at the University of Oregon as part of his current effort to raise awareness of the prevalence of diabetes among Native Americans.

Banks' visit to Eugene is sponsored by the UO's Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI), which provides training to Native American language teachers and community members. NILI Director Janne Underriner said the opportunity to bring Banks to the EMU Ballroom was one "we don't want to miss."

Banks helped create the American Indian Movement in 1968, and was a leader of takeovers at Alcatraz Island and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Washington, D.C., and the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D.

He is currently leading the Longest Run 3, a 5,400-mile relay walk and run across America to bring attention to the diabetes epidemic among Native Americans. The walk along a northern and a southern route to Washington, D.C., began Feb. 14 in Portland and La Jolla, Calif.

Banks will talk at the UO about his plan to reverse the incidence of diabetes, which he said now touches at least 40 percent of Native Americans. His appearance will be part of an afternoon focused on diabetes awareness, prevention and clinics, and the discussion of UO language programs and native foods.

"(Diabetes) is a crippling disease that if left unchecked will doom the population of Native people within 500 years," Banks said. "Therefore we as Native Nations must declare war on diabetes. Within 50 years we must completely reverse it."

Banks was among about 300 Native American activists who were arrested following the Wounded Knee occupation in 1972 and another protest a year later in Custer, S.D. He was acquitted of charges stemming from his participation in the Wounded Knee takeover, but was convicted of riot and assault stemming from the confrontation at Custer. He went underground rather than serve time in prison, but later received amnesty from California Gov. Jerry Brown, then received sanctuary on the Onondaga Reservation in upstate New York in 1984.

Banks surrendered to law enforcement officials in South Dakota in 1985, and served 18 months in prison. When released, he worked as a drug and alcohol counselor on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation.

MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Mosley, UO media relations, 541-346-3606, jmosley@uoregon.edu

SOURCE: Janne Underriner, director, Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI), 541-346-0730, jlu@uoregon.edu