[3] The Preamble to the NIYC's Constitution and Statement of Purpose reads: Now therefore be it resolved, that the National Indian Youth Council endeavors to carry forward the policy of making their inherent sovereign rights known to all people, opposing termination of federal responsibility at all levels, seeking full participation and consent on jurisdiction matters involving Indians, and staunchly supporting the exercise of those basic rights guaranteed American Indians by the statutes of the United States of America.

After listening to the ideas presented by the conservative faction of the conference, the youth began to express dissenting opinions.

This group, including Clyde Warrior (Ponca) and Mel Thom (Walker River Paiute), temporarily called themselves the Chicago Conference Youth Council.[1]:57.

Later in the year, after that summer's Workshop on American Indian Affairs had ended, the group that had joined together as the Chicago Conference Youth Council met in Gallup, New Mexico.

[5] Other members of the NIYC included Robert V. Dumont Jr. and Faith Smith, who were involved in political action and post-secondary education.

During the 1800s, numerous regional tribes ceded quantities of land to the federal government and moved to reservations, but their treaties protected traditional fishing and hunting, both in terms of access to territories and in the means used.

[10]: 184  But, after WWII, residents of the area began to realize that pollution, logging, and the increasing population were negatively affecting the salmon runs.

How to protest became a topic of contention, because many feared their cause would become linked with the American Indian civil rights movement, which was occurring at the same time.

[10]: 194 Many of the tribes in Washington gave their support to the cause, as did some Seminole from Florida, Winnebago from Nebraska, Blackfoot from Montana, Shoshone from Wyoming, and Sioux (Lakota) from the Dakotas.

[10]: 195  These demonstrations were called "fish-ins" for publicity purposes; the activists believed that the world would better understand the protests after seeing the connection to the sit-ins carried out by young blacks in the South in order to get service at lunch counters.

Clyde Warrior declared that the fish-in protesting was establishing "the beginning of a new era in the history of American Indians".

[10]: 199  In the end, the fish-ins of March 1964 did not bring about immediate change, but they attracted members of more than 45 tribes, helping build a pan-Native American movement.

[10]: 211 The NIYC was involved with African-American civil rights organizations in the Poor People's Campaign during the late 1960s in Washington, D.C.[3] In 1967,Martin Luther King Jr. and leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began to plan a mass demonstration of poor people to converge on the nation's capital to raise awareness of the need for jobs, housing, and medical care.

[1]: 149  Members from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the NIYC, and other Native organizations met with King in March 1968.

More than 2,000 demonstrators were transported by car, bus, and train to Resurrection City, a shantytown in West Potomac Park.

[1]: 173 The following is an excerpt from a statement made by Mel Thom on May 1, 1968, during a meeting with Secretary of State Dean Rusk:[1]: 167  (It was written by members of the Workshop on American Indian Affairs and the NIYC) We have joined the Poor People's Campaign because most of our families, tribes, and communities number among those suffering most in this country.

The Interior Department began failing us because it was built upon and operates under a racist, immoral, paternalistic and colonialistic system.

The goal of the Trail of Broken Treaties was to gain positive media attention to build support for tribal sovereignty and self-determination.