The organization they founded, the National Congress of American Indians, advocated for tribes to work together focusing on commonalities, not tribal differences.

They delivered the policy to President John F. Kennedy, but went on to form the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) in Gallup, New Mexico later that summer, to translate words into actions.

Unlike African American or white dissident groups, it included women in its leadership and focused on honoring their elders, not breaking with tradition.

Into this turbulent time, a pan-Indian movement developed predominantly with the goals of having the US government return native lands, right social ills, and provide funds for cultural education.

[6] After years of being told that relocation to cities would help them assimilate into the greater society, Native American experience was non-acceptance, isolation, and paternalism, which led them to each other for a sense of connection.

Within two years, what had begun as an urban initiative, saw a shift in power from OKC to the Choctaw Nation homelands as youth joined local organizations in large numbers and assumed leadership positions.

Soon chapters of OKChoctaws began springing up throughout the traditional towns in the Choctaw Nation: Antlers, Atoka, Bethel, Broken Bow, Hugo, Idabel, McAlester, and Talihina, as activists traveled there and spoke to young people.

They lobbied Congress, writing to every single member, met with the Oklahoma legislative delegation and staff at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Muskogee and Washington, DC.

When the Secretary of the Interior spoke at Will Rogers Park in Oklahoma City, several hundred Choctaw attend and let him know they did not want their tribe to be terminated.

It is equally clear that Belvin felt that activists were personally attacking him and that he scheduled meetings throughout the Choctaw Nation to justify his actions.