The premiere of the documentary The Drum Will Never Stop: Dennis Banks and His Movement will be held Tuesday, August 9, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

The 60-minute film centers on Dennis Banks, a Leech Lake (Minnesota) Ojibwa and co-founder of the American Indian Movement. Banks is a teacher, activist, and author, best known for his involvement during the occupation of Wounded Knee at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, in 1973. Beginning with the Longest Walk of 1978, the film explores various aspects of the man known as Nowa Cumig (meaning "in the center").

Emcee for the screening and post-film discussion will be Agnes Williams, Seneca, of the Indigenous Women’s Initiatives. Guest speakers include Banks, producer Takeo Koshikawa, and executive producer Masaou Yamamoto.

This event is sponsored by the Indigenous Women’s Initiative and the Nowa Cumig Institute in partnership with Buffalo State through its American Indian Policy and Media Initiative and the Native American Students Organization. Other sponsors include the WNY Peace Center and the Interfaith Peace Network of WNY.

Photo: Takeo Koshikawa