WALLA WALLA

The Walla Walla, or Wallawalla, occupied ancestral territory along the lower Walla Walla River and along the junction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers in territory that is now part of northern Oregon and southern Washington State. Their name, pronounced WAH-luh WAH-luh, means “little river” in their Sahaptian dialect of the Penutian language phylum. The tribe shared cultural traits with other PLATEAU INDIANS, subsisting primarily through salmon fishing and root gathering with some hunting of small game.

The Walla Walla became known to non-Indians after the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s. Afterward, fur traders had many contacts with them. Like other tribes of the region, they remained at peace with outsiders until the 1850s, when several wars erupted. The Walla Walla participated in the Yakama War of 1855—56 with the YAKAMA and other tribes. An important chief of the Walla Walla during this period was Peopeomoxmox. Colonel James Kelly, who led a volunteer force into Indian country, called a parley with him. When Peopeomoxmox came, he was murdered by Kelly’s men. Then they displayed his scalp and ears to the white settlers to show that they had taken revenge for earlier Indian attacks. His murder rallied other tribes to rebellion and led to continued violence through 1858, involving the COEUR D’ALENE and other tribes.

The Walla Walla were settled on the Umatilla Reservation in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington with the UMATILLA and the CAYUSE, where their descendants live today as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. The Confederated Tribes sponsor programs to revive and preserve their respective languages.