Melvin Thom was born on the Walker River Paiute reservation

Walker River Indian Reservation

The Walker River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in central Nevada in the United States. It is located along the Walker River between Yerington and Walker Lake. At the current lake level, the reservation has only a small frontage on Walker Lake...

 in Schurz, Nevada

Schurz, Nevada

Schurz is a census-designated place in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. The population was 721 at the 2000 census. It is located on the Walker River Indian Reservation. It is the burial place of Wovoka, the Paiute messiah who originated the Ghost Dance movement...

. A leader in the movement for Native American civil rights, Thom was one of the founders of the National Indian Youth Council

National Indian Youth Council

The National Indian Youth Council or "NIYC" is considered the nation’s second oldest American Indian organization and currently has a membership of more than 15,000 nationwide. It was the first independent Native student organization, and one of the first Native organizations to use direct action...

 in the 1960s.

Background

Thom graduated from Lyon County High School in Yerington, Nevada and then studied civil engineering at Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

. At BYU, he was President of the Tribe of Many Feathers Club for three years and also President of the Southwest Regional Indian Youth Council.