The Walla Walla Indians were a nomadic tribe in southeastern Washington who relied on hunting and gathering for food. With the arrival of non-Native settlers, their way of life was threatened, and they eventually ceded land to the US government in the Nez Perce Treaty of 1855. Today, many Walla Walla Indians live on the Umatilla Reservation and work in agriculture and entertainment.
The Walla Walla Indians are a Native American tribe who formerly lived around the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers in southeastern Washington state. In the past, much of their life was centered around gathering food and they moved around their range throughout the year to hunt and gather seasonal foods. This traditional way of life became increasingly difficult as non-Native settlers began moving west in large numbers. With the signing of the Nez Perce Treaty of 1855, the Walla Walla Indians and several neighboring tribes ceded over six million acres of land to the United States. Most of the tribe moved to the Umatilla Reservation in northern Oregon.
Because they lived almost entirely on hunted-and-gathered food, the Walla Walla Indians led a nomadic lifestyle, traveling across their homeland to gather foods such as salmon, elk, root crops, and blueberries when the season came. These items were usually collected in large quantities and then dried for use throughout the year. Because of their nomadic tendencies, the Walla Walla Indians usually lived in tent-like dwellings called longhouses, which could be easily disassembled and transported from place to place.
Walla Walla society was democratic. A group of designated elders and chiefs presided over the affairs of the tribe, making decisions based on the needs and wishes of the tribesmen. The work was divided according to the strengths and talents of the members.
A tradition of trading has existed for centuries between the Walla Walla Indians and many of the tribes that dwelt further east. The Walla Walla peoples offered foods such as salmon in exchange for items such as buffalo hides. When non-Native explorers—such as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who visited the Walla Walla tribe in 1805 and 1806—began arriving in the area, the local tribes initially viewed their presence as favorable, as it offered opportunities for extensive trade. However, as non-Native settlers began arriving in large numbers, local people soon found their traditional way of life in jeopardy.
These settlers took over Walla Walla land, and indigenous wild peoples began to suffer from overhunting and loss of natural habitat. Diseases brought by non-native peoples have ravaged local tribes. The normally peaceful peoples of Walla Walla and their neighbors have sometimes responded to this destruction by striking at the newcomers.
In 1855, U.S. government representatives met with delegates from many tribes in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. The result of this meeting was the Nez Perce Treaty, which aimed to end unrest in the region by officially allocating more than six million acres of tribal land to the United States. In return, the tribes were offered three designated reserve areas.
Following the treaty, many Walla Walla Indians and the neighboring Cayuse and Umatilla Indians moved to the 500,000-acre Umatilla Reservation in northeastern Oregon and formed a confederacy. Late 19th-century legislation further reduced the size of this reserve to 19 acres. As of 172,000, there are about 2010 remaining members of the three-tribe confederacy, about half of whom live on the Umatilla Reservation. Although the Walla Walla peoples continue to preserve their indigenous cultural traditions, it is no longer possible for them to live as hunter-gatherers. Many of them work instead in agriculture and in the entertainment industry.
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