Dennis Hopper, who became an icon of independent film and a symbol of sixties rebellion, continues to get recognition for his influential roles, attitude and his lasting legacy.

On Saturday Dennis Hopper was honored in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, as part of an Easy Rider Festival. Hopper, who died on May 29, 2010, would have been 78 yesterday, May 17.

Hopper directed and starred in the iconic film "Easy Rider" 1969. The movie spurred a rabid following within the sixties counterculture. Hopper is buried near the site of the event was held. Fans would like to mark the late actor's birthday each year. They want to call it Dennis Hopper Day.

Movie fans and bikers from as far away as Canada took the trip to New Mexico to mark the celebration of Dennis Hopper and his iconic counterculture film "Easy Rider."

Taos Pueblo Gov. Clyde M. Romero, issued a statement saying, "We, the Red Willow People of the Taos Valley, recognize May 17, 2014, as Dennis Hopper Day. Our forefathers let Dennis shoot his film, 'Easy Rider,' in 1968 and he became friends with our Elders and People of the Pueblo. On May 17th, we will recognize Dennis Hopper Day annually."

Rick Bellis, the town manager, said "He walked across the multicultural borders here. I think that really started with him and the movie and has continued. In the last few years, we have really become that kind of community that he saw, that there was no difference between our ethnicities and who, when and where we came from. We all came here for the same reason, that awe of nature and that spirit of the last of the wild West, that independence."

Dennis Hopper was an actor, director, artist, and photographer. He was active in the movie industry until his death in 2010. Dennis Hopper was born May 17, 1936. He became a serious photographer after the suggestion of his close friend James Dean. Hopper  appeared in Dean's films "Rebel Without a Cause" in 1955 and "Giant" in 1956. Easy Rider, which was also co-written by Hopper,  won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award.