Simultaneously with her arrival in New York City, Unkalunt began working for the New York City Board of Education. She presented songs and Native legends to over three hundred and fifty public schools between 1921 and 1923. She also lectured for the United States Department of the Interior, giving presentations on Native culture. In 1922, she founded an organization known as the Society of the First Sons and Daughters of America. The society allowed only persons who were authentically Native Americans to be full members. It accepted associate members who were allies and its purpose was to foster an appreciation for cultural expression and to influence lawmaking which would be of benefit to "Amerinds", a phrase Unkalunt coined to call American Indians. She believed that her mixed-race status allowed her to be a bridge between two cultures, saying, "I have the strength and stoicism of the Indian, but the drive of the whites…and therefore [am] able to fight for what I want".
