Molala

The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) were a people of the Plateau culture area in central Oregon, United States. Some consider them extinct, though they are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 members in the 1950s claiming Molala descent.

Language

The Molalla language was a member of the Plateau Penutian family. It was previously considered a language isolate. Molalla is now extinct.

History

A member of the Molalla may figure prominently in the history of Oregon's first militia. During the period of the initial Provisional Government of Oregon, the 1843 Organic Laws of Oregon provided for a militia. The first opportunity to deploy the recently formed Oregon militia came on March 4, 1844, when the territorial government’s recorder George LeBreton and another person in Oregon City were killed, supposedly by a member of the Molalla. Their deaths spurred the organization of a company of 25 men calling themselves the Oregon Rangers at the Oregon Institute. Though the company of mounted riflemen never saw action, they were briefly led by Captain Thomas D. Keizer and then by Charles H. Bennett.

Bibliography

• Horner, John B. (1921). "Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature". The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Pharris, Nicholas J. (2006). Winuunsi Tm Talapaas: A grammar of the Molalla Language. University of Michigan Ph.D. dissertation and winner of the 2006 Mary Haas Award of the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas.

External links

• Molala History