THE NOYO BIDA TRUTH PROJECT, formerly known as Change Our Name Fort Bragg, will hold an event Saturday 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 General and slaveowner Braxton Bragg.

The event will feature a presentation by Cantrell who has worked with children and families in Mendocino and Lake counties for 25 years, focused on providing Native American mental and behavioral health care services focused on helping people heal from generational trauma. She also assists with social work efforts at the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.  

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples refers to the ongoing crisis that has afflicted Native American 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 Native American 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. 

In 2017, Nicole Smith of the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians was killed in a drive-by shooting. Her case remains unsolved.

Rachel Sloan of the Cahto Tribe of Laytonville Rancheria 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 Dr. 

People can email the Noyo Bida Truth Project for more information on the event or to learn more about the MMIP crisis.  

Bay City News reporter Sarah Stierch contributed to this story.

This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.