The clinic UIHS is building will have none of the institutional feel of a modern doctor's office. Although it's built from concrete, its walls are cast and stained to resemble redwood planks. The largest room, a gathering room, will be paneled with old-growth redwood (gathered from a demolished lumber mill) and filled with paintings and baskets created by local Indian artists.

"All these things help us remember who we are," said Paula Allen, a member of the UIHS board of directors. "If you know who you are than it's easier to accept others. You don't get into that anger and isolation."

From the meeting room, a circular hallway leads to the doctor's offices where dental, vision, diabetes, and other primary care services will be available when the clinic opens in the winter of 2001. The surrounding hallway will be set with chairs for waiting family members.

"Indians tend to come to the doctor with nieces, grandmothers, sisters, whoever," Allen said. "We wanted to encourage this visiting, to give people a nicer space to spend time together while they waited," she said.

At the center of the clinic is a courtyard, known as the "wellness garden." When it's finished, a stream will flow from a waterfall, surrounded by native shrubs, trees, and medicinal herbs. UIHS board members hope it will be used for spiritual reflection and meditation.

"In Humboldt and Del Norte counties everything is by the rivers," Simone said. "All the Indian tribes are associated with rivers, so the wellness garden is a very powerful image. It has a lot of symbolism."