Walla Walla (tribe)

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Sahaptin Tribal Representatives to Washington D.C. (1890)
University of Washington Digital Collections

Walla Walla is a Native American group that lives on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Walla Walla share land and a governmental structure with the Cayuse and the Umatilla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. The reservation is located in the area Pendleton, Oregon, United States, near the Blue Mountains.

The people are a Sahaptin-speaking group which traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States. The Walla Walla occupied the territory along the Walla Walla River and along the junction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers in a territory that is now part of northern Oregon and southeastern Washington state in the United States before the coming of white settlers. The name is pronounced WOL-uh WOL-uh, which means "little river."

The Confederation opened a gambling casino in 1995, multiplying its budget sevenfold, and cutting unemployment on the reservation in half.

History: They encountered Lewis and Clark on the expedition, and were quite hospitable. They traded and generally aided Lewis and Clark through their journey. They traded Lewis a white horse for his sword.

The name Walla Walla has also been adopted to the name of a county and city in Washington, just over the border.