About Yellowhawk
Yellowhawk provides high-quality, primary healthcare for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and other American Indians and Alaska Natives in Oregon’s Umatilla and Union counties.
Owned and governed by the CTUIR, Yellowhawk has provided its community members with health-related programs since 1996. A non-profit organization, the clinic promotes health and wellbeing through a number of services including:
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- Medical and dental services
- Mental and behavioral health counseling
- Health promotion
- Disease and substance abuse prevention
- Community education and training
- Community wellness and much more.
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The CTUIR Tribal Health Commission, Yellowhawk’s governing body, is comprised of seven tribal members as well as one representative from the CTUIR Board of Trustees. Together, with the clinic’s Executive Management Team, they work to encourage everyone to live a healthy lifestyle.
The Yellowhawk Story
Yellowhawk staff members are often asked by visitors how the health center was named. Mitzi Rodriguez, one of our former long-term employees, tells this story: “Piitamyanon Maqsmaqs”, which translates into Yellowhawk , was a Cayuse Chief. He was the last surviving brother among the Cayuse men in the 1850s. As such, Yellowhawk took on the chieftainship and signed the Treaty of 1855 on behalf of the Paszapu Band of Cayuse.
This Cayuse group was later removed from the Walla Walla Valley and relocated to the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which included the Walla Walla and Umatilla Tribes. Yellowhawk was survived by his son Phillip Minthorn whose daughter, Anna Cash Cash Minthorn Wannassay (my grandmother), was on the original health committee. Before the tribe assumed ownership and management of the Umatilla Service Unit, the Indian Health Service approached Anna’s family about an appropriate name for the health clinic. Anna’s family chose the name Yellowhawk for the clinic in honor of Cayuse Elder Anna Cash Cash Minthorn.
Department Colors
Yellowhawk is designed with departmental colors for easy navigation within the building. Each color representing a plant of one of our traditional foods. The color concept follows the order of CTUIR First Foods.
The Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Walla Walla languages are incorporated into the new clinic.
Pyaxí (Green)
Lewisia Redivia
Administration
Patient Registration
Behavioral Health
Xáwš (Yellow)
Desert Parsley
Pharmacy
Medical
Lab / X-Ray
Maternal Child Health
WIC
Xmáaš (Blue)
Blue Camas
Optometry
Audiology
Tmis (Red)
Chokecherry
Facilities
Dental
Wíwnu (Purple)
Huckleberry
Public Health
Physical Therapy
Complementary Medicine
Energy Trust of Oregon
YELLOWHAWK TRIBAL HEALTH CENTER AIMS FOR NET-ZERO ENERGY USE
Yellowhawk is the first tribal building in the state to enroll in Path to Net Zero from Energy Trust of Oregon, which offers incentives and resources to projects pursuing net-zero energy use. By working with Energy Trust early in the design phase, Yellowhawk’s team was able to incorporate features that make it 60 percent more energy efficient than a standard building of its type. For a community that values protecting natural resources, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center marks another step toward a more sustainable future.
Learn more here.