History. Place. Understanding
CenterSignal is a history-informed communication and placemaking practice helping organizations tell meaningful stories of land, place, and community.
Our Work
Boulder, Fort Chambers, And The Sand Creek Massacre
CenterSignal’s approach draws on founder Phillip Yates’s prior public-sector experience leading award-winning communication and public history work with Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Representatives while employed by the City of Boulder.
The work elevated Tribal Representative perspectives, corrected incomplete local histories, and helped the public understand Boulder County’s connection to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre—shaping long-term land-use planning, site preservation, and future public interpretation for the historic Fort Chambers site.
Building Arapaho, Cheyenne, And Niwot Relationships
CenterSignal’s experience includes community-based work supporting relationship-building with Arapaho and Cheyenne communities in Niwot, Colorado—a town named for Southern Arapaho Chief Nowoo3, also known as Chief Niwot or Left Hand.
That history carries a special responsibility: a Niwot town founder was connected to a military unit that participated in the Sand Creek Massacre, where Nowoo3 was mortally wounded. At a 2025 community gathering in Niwot, Tribal Elders emphasized that truthful historical storytelling is the essential foundation for meaningful relationships.
Where This
Work Helps
CenterSignal works with public agencies, conservation organizations, developers, campuses, civic institutions, nonprofits, project teams, and community partners navigating places, histories, decisions, and public stories that need deeper context.
SCOPE OF PRACTICE
- Public projects & land decisions
- Cultural landscapes & institutional histories
- Civic, campus & community milestones
- Naming, interpretation & public memory
- Conservation, development & redevelopment questions
- Historically sensitive community stories
PLACES THIS WORK TOUCHES
The work supports the places people inhabit, steward, visit, develop, remember, and move through.
“When we came to [Boulder], we didn’t know anybody, and so we were kind of feeling our way around wanting to know, ‘What does the city want from us? Why are they asking us to be here?’” said Fred Mosqueda, Southern Arapaho, recalling when he met Phillip Yates, CenterSignal founder, during City of Boulder efforts to rebuild relationships with Tribal Nations.
“Phillip came out and was very honest with us, was very open. He’s very easy to talk to, and so I was able to start a friendship with him almost from day one.”
Niwot Living History
NiwotLivingHistory.org is an independent civic history and public education platform created by Phillip Yates to help the Niwot, Boulder Valley, and Denver Metro communities better understand Southern Arapaho Chief Nowoo3, Arapaho and Cheyenne history, the Sand Creek Massacre, public memory, Native art, and relationship-building.
The site connects relationship-building and public education through a seven-chapter history pathway, Arapaho and Cheyenne perspectives, a learning library, public art documentation, artist-first programming, film programming, and tree carving preservation.
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Let's Tell The Stories Places Carry
Working through a public history project, land decision, Tribal engagement effort, community process, conservation issue, or place-based story that needs care?
CenterSignal helps organizations understand the histories connected to the places they serve, communicate with clarity and responsibility, and build relationships around work that matters.