FORT BRAGG, CA., 7/26/2025 – The Noyo Bida Truth Project, formerly known as Change Our Name Fort Bragg, will hold an event in Fort Bragg featuring Dr. Tatiana Cantrell, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People director for the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.
The Noyo Bida Truth Project is a nonprofit that aims to educate Mendocino County residents about the history of the name Fort Bragg, which has a connection to the Confederate Army Gen. Braxton Bragg, who was a prominent officer in the military and had a strong loyalty for the Southern Confederacy. Bragg was also a slaveowner himself.
The event will feature a presentation by Dr. Cantrell, who has worked with children and families in Lake and Mendocino counties for 25 years. She has spent many years working with Indigenous communities to help heal people from generational trauma. She has also built relationships with community organizations and currently assists with social work efforts at the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.
The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples acronym refers to the ongoing crisis that has afflicted Indigenous communities. There have been disproportionately high rates of violence, murders and disappearances within these communities, especially among women and young girls.
While specific data on the rate of indigenous people missing or killed in Mendocino County is limited, there have been notable cases that have drawn attention in the last several years. One case that remains unsolved is the disappearance of Wailaki woman Khadijah Britton, who was reported missing from Round Valley in 2018.
Others include Nicole Smith of the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2017. Her case remains unsolved. As well as Rachel Sloan of the Cahto Tribe of Laytonville Rancheria. She was found shot dead in a refrigerator along California state Highway 162 in 2013. The case hasn’t been solved.
The MMIP educational program will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Fort Bragg campus of Mendocino College, 1211 Del Mar Drive.
For more information on the event or to learn more about the MMIP crisis, email [email protected].
Read more on The Mendocino Voice | Mendocino County, CA
