Walla Walla Tribe By: Isabelle, Dhriti, Wiley, and Pranav

Introduction Walla Walla means “many waters” as there were many rivers that ran through their land. The tribe adopted some of the culture of the Great Plains such as teepees and hunting buffalos. The grasslands in the Walla Walla territory allowed them to have large herds and become horse breeders and traders. There are many more things to learn about this tribe. Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s splash right into it!

A Place to Call Home The Walla Walla tribe’s longhouses were approximately 80 feet long. The longhouses were easily broken, but easily fixed. They used longhouses during the cold winter months, and teepees during the Summer. Teepees were covered with skins from animals. But tule mat were covered with bulrushes, or mats of strong, sturdy tule reeds.

Pit houses were shelters made with logs and sealed for insulation with sod. Pit houses were built under ground with an entrance and a ladder to get to the top and were used during the winter.

What’s for Lunch? Did you know that Walla Wallas are very resourceful with their food? Men sometimes hunted elk and deer, and occasionally antelope, big horn sheep, bear, and other animals in the Blue Mountains. When they did, they would use the meat for food and the bones and antlers they would carve into tools. The hides of the animals are used to make clothing. They were always on the move to be close to seasonal foods. Animals that the men hunted.

The women would gather roots, lichen, and berries. They also ate seeds and nuts for protein. Women make small, round storage huts in shallow pits to store dried roots, berries, meat, and fish. In the olden days, camas bulbs, an important root they use to gather, was baked into bread or biscuits in a stone-lined oven or boiled into mush in baskets. Indian carrot and bitterroot was also gathered along with edible black lichen that grew on fir and pine trees. The lichen was baked to make a cheesy substance. Women don’t nearly gather nearly as many lichen and roots as they used too. A woman is drying fish and gathering berries.

During spring, the waters are teeming with salmon and the Walla Walla traditions are that they have weekly ceremonies. Their main protein source is fish. They catch steelhead lamprey, eel, salmon, whitefish, sturgeon, suckers, and other fish. Salmon that was caught and prepared for the Celilo Salmon Celebration In summer, men continue to catch salmon, but the men also catch lamprey eel, a popular food. The women dry fish and dig roots. Everybody celebrates when the roots ripen.

Everyone welcomes the summer sweet fruits. Many berries ripen. Women and children pick blackberries, blueberries, chokecherries, wild currents, elderberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, raspberries, serviceberries, and wild strawberries. These fruits are eaten raw or dried on mats out in the sun or before a fire. The dried fruits are used in soups, mush, or made into pemmican by pounding berries into dried fish and meat. Berries that the women gathered.

Time to Dress Up! The Walla Walla Tribe decorated their clothing in a very beautiful manner. The men and women wore slightly different clothing but both types of clothing looked marvelous. Men usually wore breechcloths, leggings, vests, shirts, moccasins, and robes. Their clothes were made of shredded cedar bark, deerskin, and buffalo hides. It was customary to decorate men’s clothing with fringes. Blankets and gloves were often used to keep out the cold. Men’s hair was kept long and adorned with beads and plaits during festival time.

Women wore long dresses that covered from the neck to the ankles. They also wore knee-high moccasins. These clothes helped to keep them warm. Their clothes were finished with beads. The beads were made of shells, claws, bones, nuts, seeds, porcupine quills, horns, pieces of metal, and bird talons.

Walla Walla On The Move The Walla Walla tribe used dugout canoes for transportation. The dugout canoes are made from hollowed-out large trees. Men hollowed out the trees with fire, this also softened the bark so they could shape it.

Starting at the 1700s the Walla Walla tribe rode horses, this made their life much easier as they hunted.

Conclusion All of this that you just learned was the way this tribe used to live. Now, in the present, many things have changed. This tribe has a lot of history. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. What is for sure that it changed their lifestyle.

Internet Resources Information Alchin, Linda. Walla Walla Tribe: Facts, Clothes, Food and History. March 2015, Native American Indian Facts. American-Indian-Facts/Walla-Walla-Tribe-Facts.shtmlhttp://native-american-indian-facts.com/Plateau- American-Indian-Facts/Walla-Walla-Tribe-Facts.shtml Walla Walla. pdf. Walla Walla – People of Many Waters. August 2012, Pictures Alchin, Linda. Walla Walla Tribe. March 2015,

Walla Walla dress. ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1d/74/68/1d7468b24ec9b76f0ed110f058e528e2.jpg Umatilla, Walla Walla & Cayuse. Walla Walla Indians. Pum_and-child.jpg Walla Walla Woman. ak0.pinimg.com/236x/19/99/92/199992ed c949adec30b67a96.jpg The Walla Walla Tribe – People of Many Waters. Wallawalla,EdwardSCurtis, jpg The Celilo Salmon Celebration. n_Jan-Sonnenmair_11_fitbox_640x1200.jpg

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