Change Our Name Fort Bragg has changed its name to The Noyo Bida Truth Project (TNBTP) to align with its vision in educating the Mendocino Coast about the resilient Indigenous community of the region. Our new name reaffirms the 10,000-year-old historical Northern Pomo name for the area, Noyo Bida, meaning The Fishing Place, highlighting its cultural significance.
Board members of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit voted to change its name in January and completed legal paperwork this month. Updates to our website, Facebook page, YouTube channel titles, and logo will occur in the coming months.
Rebranding our organization clearly demonstrates our end goal of returning Indigenous languages to identify locations of cultural significance related to our natural environment. We acknowledge the ecological diversity of our California Coast and emphasize the importance of preserving and acknowledging our true local history. To date, the city of Fort Bragg is named for a Fort associated with the Mendocino Reservation, where acts of genocide were committed against California tribal communities. The Fort was named for a general with no connection to the Mendocino Coast; we have chosen to cease the glorification of Confederate General Bragg and the erasure of the Tribal communities.
Our goals include holding healing ceremonies, supporting Land Back initiatives to Indigenous peoples, creating a memorial for the victims of the Mendocino Indian Reservation, establishing a cultural center, providing truthful historical signage, and improving California history education in our local schools, which are also named for this Confederate general.
In an ironic side note, the name change illustrates how organizational name changes, even those of a city, can be accomplished easily and inexpensively when people come together to do the right thing.
Our new logo design, created by Natyia Whipple, age 15, of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, holds significant cultural significance for the Indigenous community. She designed the cover of the Ancestral Waters Activity book as a contractual artist with the Tribal Marine Collaborative and the state's Marine Protection Area (MPA) Collaborative. Natyia was also featured on the cover of California Water Justice News (Save California Salmon) after winning 1st place for her artwork inspired by the Eel River, which reflects local history. While attending Cardinal Newman High School, she received an Arts Alive award and recognition for being the first student artist to create a mural on the school’s campus. Her contributions to community art murals and unveilings throughout Mendocino, Sonoma, and Yolo Counties have been made in partnership with the RVIHC Native Pathways Program, Native Dads Network, and the Hope Through Art Foundation.