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California parks bosses return a Yurok name to the North Coast: Sue-Meg State Park

Goodbye, Patrick's Point, and hello (again) to Sue-Meg (spoken "soo-meh").

The California State Park on the ocean north of Eureka got a unanimous vote from the State Parks Commission to revert to the name the Yurok people used for the place for millennia.

There is already a Sumeg (the spelling is variable) village within the park representing a traditional Yurok settlement. Now the name will extend to the entire park.

We talk about the significance of the name change with Skip Lowry, a State Parks employee descended from Yurok, Mountain Maidu, and Pit River people; Terry Supahan of True North Organizing Network; and Pastor Bethany Nass Cseh from Arcata United Methodist Church and Catalyst Church.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.