Willapa people facts for kids
The Willapa or Willoopah people, also known as Kwalhioqua, were a group of Native Americans who spoke a language from the Northern Athapaskan family. They lived in the southwestern part of Washington, United States.
Their home was in the valley of the Willapa River and the open grasslands between the upper parts of the Chehalis and Cowlitz Rivers.
The Willapa People and Their Language
The Willapa people, along with the Clatskanie people (also called Tlatskanai), spoke a language known as Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie. This language is now extinct, meaning no one speaks it anymore. The Willapa's way of speaking this language (their dialect) was quite different from the Clatskanie's.
Where the Kwalhioqua and Clatskanie Lived
The Kwalhioqua lived north of the lower Columbia River. The Clatskanie lived to the south. Other Native American groups, like the Lower Chinook-speaking Shoalwater Bay Chinook (or Willapa Chinook), the Clatsop, and the Kathlamet, lived between them. These groups spoke different versions of the Chinookan language.
By the 1800s, the Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie people became spread out among other Native American groups called Coast Salish. Their language was no longer spoken by the 1930s.
Willapa Subgroups
The Willapa or Kwalhioqua people had two main groups:
- The Suwal or Swaal: These were sometimes called the "Upper Willapa River Valley Kwalhioqua." They lived near the upper parts of the Chehalis River. The Lower Cowlitz and Upper Chehalis people called them Owhillapsh.
- The Wela'pakote'li or Willapa: These were known as the "Lower Willapa River Valley Kwalhioqua." They lived along the Willapa River. The Lower Cowlitz and Upper Chehalis people called them Swilaumsh.
