Who We Are

We are Shebelna Pomo.  We use this name because we believe it is the original name of our ancestor’s band.  Our ancestors indicated that we were Shubuldano and our lands were Shabaltino.  They indicated that Shabaltino was the equivalent of Sherwood Valley, which is an area named after Alfred Sherwood, a white settler.  Prior to white interference, there were numerous autonomous and semi-autonomous bands living in, or extremely near to, the Sherwood Valley area.  An Indian Rancheria was established in this area in the late 1800‘s.  The local Indians in the area then became known as “SHERWOOD POMO”.

Fort Bragg is the location of the Mendocino Indian Reservation which was dismantled during the 1860’s.  Some of the Northern Pomo Indians that survived the Mendocino War have remained here since.  Prior to invasion, these Northern Pomo groups lived in small bands that were named after the specific place in which they lived.  Circa 1900 these Indians were known, generically, as “Sherwood Valley Pomo” since a Rancheria had been established in the Sherwood Valley.  Most of the historic settlements were within walking distance of this area.  The local Indians had historically migrated back and forth from Fort Bragg to the Sherwood Valley.  When they weren’t seasonally migrating, some Indians preferred to live on the coast and some chose to live inland.  Although they recognized each other under the generic name “Sherwood Indians” they also differentiated between the coastal people and the inland group which resided on the Sherwood Valley Rancheria.  Some of the coastal Indians inhabited some old mill buildings at the mouth of the Noyo River in Fort Bragg.  Other Indians lived in Fort Bragg or an area nearby.

Although a Rancheria had been established, our ancestors chose not to live there.  As a matter of fact, none of the local Indians lived on this tract until around 1910.  Our ancestors chose to live on the coast at Fort Bragg.  Historically, our ancestors migrated from coastal areas to the inland valley’s on a seasonal basis.  Kaidu, at the mouth of Noyo, was a popular gathering place for Indian tribes from all over Mendocino County.  Our ancestors could walk from Sherwood to Fort Bragg in one day.  Harvesting coastal resources was important to the survival of tribes all over the County.  Our ancestors chose to live here not only to take advantage of natural resources that the Rancheria did not offer, but also because of the availability of jobs in the area’s thriving timber industry.  They continued to seasonally migrate, however.  Coastal Indians would migrate to the inland valleys to harvest crops on farms and ranches.  They took advantage of these seasonal jobs because they often paid more than working at the lumber mill in Fort Bragg.

Today, the families of Shebelna continue to live and work in the Mendocino County area and beyond.