Description
The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the Plateau culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central Oregon, United States. They are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 members in the 1950s claiming Molala descent. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians also has Molalla representation among its confederation of Tribes and Bands. The ancestral lands of the Molala people were located south of the Columbia River where various areas were occupied for seasonal resource exploitation. During the winter, members of the nation resided in the vicinity of modern Tygh Valley. During the spring, the Molalas moved to a site along the Deschutes River near what is now Antelope.
Language
The Molala language was a member of the Plateau Penutian family. It was previously considered a language isolate. Molala is now extinct.
Culture
They gathered stockpiles of fish, particularly Sockeye salmon and Columbia River redband trout. Throughout the summer and autumn, the Molalas gathered outside modern Wapinitia where they dug for the tubers of camas and wapato and collected regional berries. Molallas subsisted primarily on game, especially deer and elk, supplemented by aquatic and vegetable resources that included salmon and steelhead in mountain streams, camas and hazelnuts on prairies and savannas in the west, and prized mountain huckleberries in the high Cascades. Game provided fur, feather, and hide for clothing and regalia, as well as meat. Political organization was minimal, and leadership was task-oriented. Male and female roles were differentiated, with basket weaving, hide dressing, and the harvest of vegetable resources falling mainly to women and hunting and warfare mainly to men.