Theresa Lamebull
Encyclopedia
Theresa Elizabeth White Weasel Walker Lamebull, (1896? – August 2007) was reputedly a supercentenarian believed to have been be the oldest living member of the Gros Ventre
Tribe of Montana and possibly the oldest native American
ever recorded. Her Indian name was "Kills At Night" (BeeKanHay).
Lamebull's family hadn't known exactly how old she was until some time around 2005 when they found a baptismal certificate which may be hers. A priest translated the Latin on the certificate as saying she was a year old when she was baptised in 1897.
Lamebull was a fluent speaker of the language of the Gros Ventre (only a handful of other people speak it) and helped teach the language and develop a dictionary. She was likely Montana's longest-lived teacher since statehood.
The Hays Education Resource Center on the Fort Belknap Reservation was named the 'Kills At Night Center' in her honor and at the naming ceremony Terry Brockie, an A'aninin (Gros Ventres) language teacher sang her a traditional song in the A'aninin language.
She died in August 2007 at the claimed age of 111. A funeral Mass was held at St. Paul's Catholic Gymnasium in Hays, and she was buried at Mission Cemetery.
Gros Ventres
The Gros Ventre people , also known as the A'ani, A'aninin, Haaninin, and Atsina, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana...
Tribe of Montana and possibly the oldest native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
ever recorded. Her Indian name was "Kills At Night" (BeeKanHay).
Lamebull's family hadn't known exactly how old she was until some time around 2005 when they found a baptismal certificate which may be hers. A priest translated the Latin on the certificate as saying she was a year old when she was baptised in 1897.
Lamebull was a fluent speaker of the language of the Gros Ventre (only a handful of other people speak it) and helped teach the language and develop a dictionary. She was likely Montana's longest-lived teacher since statehood.
The Hays Education Resource Center on the Fort Belknap Reservation was named the 'Kills At Night Center' in her honor and at the naming ceremony Terry Brockie, an A'aninin (Gros Ventres) language teacher sang her a traditional song in the A'aninin language.
She died in August 2007 at the claimed age of 111. A funeral Mass was held at St. Paul's Catholic Gymnasium in Hays, and she was buried at Mission Cemetery.