The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the
Plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, United States. They are one of the
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundar ...
, with 141 of the 882 members in the 1950s claiming Molala descent. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians also has Molalla representation among its confederation of Tribes and Bands. The Siletz Reservation was established in 1855, for the Coast, Willamette and Umpqua Tribes (Rogue River and Shasta Tribes soon after added). The Molalla are one of the Tribes who signed the 1855 Willamette Valley Treaty (aka Kalapuya, etc. Treaty).
Language
The
Molala language
Molala (Molele, Molalla) is the extinct and poorly attested Plateau Penutian language of the Molala people of Oregon and Washington. It is first attested along the Deschutes River, and later moved to the Molalla and Santiam rivers, and to the h ...
was a member of the
Plateau Penutian
Plateau Penutian (also Shahapwailutan, Lepitan) is a family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho.
Family division
Plateau Penutian consists of four ...
family. It was previously considered a language isolate. Molala is now extinct.
History
The ancestral lands of the Molala people were located south of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
where various areas were occupied for seasonal resource exploitation. During the winter, members of the nation resided in the vicinity of modern Tygh Valley.Verne F. Ray, George Peter Murdock, Beatrice Blyth, Omer C. Stewart, Jack Harris, E. Adamson Hoebel and D. B. Shimkin ''Tribal Distribution in Eastern Oregon and Adjacent Regions.'' American Anthropologist 40, No. 3 (1938), pp. 384-415. During the spring, the Molalas moved to a site along the
Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to:
*Deschutes River (Oregon)
The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...
near what is now
Antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
. There, they gathered stockpiles of fish, particularly
Sockeye salmon
The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...
and
Columbia River redband trout
The Columbia River redband trout, the inland redband trout or the interior redband troutWapinitia where they dug for the tubers of camas and wapato and collected regional berries.
The Molala traditionally occupied the western slopes of the Cascade Mountain range. After they relocated to portions of the
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...
, the Molala had to contend with groups of
Cayuse Cayuse may refer to:
*Cayuse people, a people native to Oregon, United States
*Cayuse language, an extinct language of the Cayuse people
*Cayuse, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the United States
*Cayuse horse, an archaic term for a feral or ...
warriors who occasionally attacked their settlements for slaves. During the last known Cayuse raid, likely in the late 1820s,MacKey, Harold. ''New Light on the Molala Indians.'' Oregon Historical Quarterly 73, No. 1 (1972), pp. 63-65. a Molala nobleman was killed. A Clackamas man was used as an intermediary between local Molala soldiers and the Cayuse raiders. He arranged for a second battle. The battle was likely held at
Minto Pass
Minto may refer to:
Places Antarctica
*Mount Minto (Antarctica)
Australia
*Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Minto railway station
* Minto County, Western Australia
* Parish of Minto, New South Wales
Canada
* Minto City, British Col ...
, lasted two days, and the Molalas considered it a victory.
In 1848, Molala war chief Loshuk (Crooked Finger) led 150 warriors (Molala, Klamath, Umpqua, Rogue, Atsugewi, Achomawi, Modoc) in an attempt to attack white men who were in the Willamette Valley, but their plan failed after the warriors were ambushed near Butte Creek and their village on the Abiqua Creek shore was attacked. Crooked Finger and his warriors took part in the
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease ...
as allies of their kinsmen.
Footnotes
Further reading
* John B. Horner "Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature." Portland, OR: J.K. Gill Co., 1919.
* Marianne Mithun,''The Languages of Native North America.'' Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
* Nicholas J. Pharris, Nicholas J., ''Winuunsi Tm Talapaas: A Grammar of the Molalla Language.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2006.