The garden at United Indian Health Services's health village is already serving as a gathering place. Even though the clinic is not yet open, the tribes are hosting cultural events at the Arcata site.

Last October, UIHS sponsored a harvest festival where more than 200 members of the Indian community met in the garden to eat, watch basket weaving demonstrations and play games. Volunteers sold bags of fresh, organic produce grown in the garden to promote good nutrition. They will continue to offer the produce bags at the clinic, especially targeting the growing number of Indians who suffer from diabetes.

And UIHS is reaching out to the greater Arcata community. Just last month, fourth graders from Equinox elementary gathered near the gardens to listen to local Karuk storyteller Julian Lang and his apprentices sing traditional songs and tell tales. The kids heard about a mischevious bluebird and a poor man who managed to win the heart of the most beautiful woman in the village.

The students also toured the site to learn more about the Native American's belief that the health of people is directly connected to the healthof the land. By continuing to share experience with school children and others on the site, members of UIHS hope a more sustainable culture will grow alongside the new plants and trees, regardless of who lives to see it.

"It can't just be the Native Americans living healthier," said Maria Tripp, a Yurok board member. "These ideas have to be integrated into the whole community."