Description
A Sahaptin tribe who lived for centuries on the Columbia River Plateau in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, their name is translated several ways but, most often, as “many waters.” The tribe included many groups and bands often referred to by their village names, such as Wallulapum and Chomnapum. Many Walla Wallas live on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The first encounter with Euro-Americans for the Walla Wallas was the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Language
Sahaptin
Culture
A hunter-gatherer tribe, they lived in “tents” that were easy to move. However, their lodging differed from many other nomadic tribes in that it was bigger and covered with tule mats rather than hides. Called a longhouse, it was made out of lodge poles much like a tepee but was much longer. Beginning in the early 1700s, the Walla Walla people raised great herds of horses, making their lifestyle much easier as they gathered seasonal plants. They also traveled across the Rocky Mountains to trade dried roots and salmon to the Plains Indians for buffalo meat and hides.