Nineteen-sixty was a pivotal year for Aboriginal people across Canada as it was the first time they were allowed to vote in federal elections. This spurred an interest and desire to fight for the rights of First Nations people. Many organizations were formed during this era, including the National Native Brotherhood which later evolved into the Assembly of First Nations. As well, during the 1960s, the consciousness of the general public changed a great deal, with an emphasis on the injustices of the world coming into the forefront.

In the Yukon, the early days of the movement saw several key people decide they wanted change and they would take action to see it happen. The Yukon Native Brotherhood and Yukon Association of Non-status Indians (YANSI) formed.

"My dad (Johnny Johns) started in with this land claims in about 1960. And they had no idea how to get started. They didn't know how to do it. And I used to read a lot. I was reading about Australia when they were trying to get theirs, and I told my dad you have to go through the aboriginal rights to get started and he said

how do you know? So I told him about reading it. So he went and told Elijah (Smith) and that is how they got started. That is the way I thought it was supposed to go. I read the story about Australia and that is why I told him and I thought it would work the same way with other native people or other people who got cheated out of their country."

"Way back in the '60s, there was the Indian advancement organization in Whitehorse. The Indian people were involved with that but I know Joanie and Ted Anderson were the ones who started that, and then, when it came time, they said it was time for the Indians to take over their own organization. I remember we had an election that was stemming from the Indian advancement organization. We had an election. I happened to be the secretary/treasurer, and a Morris from Teslin was the president. And I remember Elijah Smith was there at that, at those early, early days. I happened to be the secretary/treasurer but you know, we could not have a meeting because I was not Indian. I was non-status. So that is when we realized, hey, our people are different, there is status