The Yakama Nation of Washington was saved from termination by a 105-year-old woman who was the tribe's only living witness to the signing of the Treaty of 1855 in Walla Walla.

Kis-'am-xay, also known as Annie Bill, was only 5 when she watched her elders sign the treaty. But 100 years later, her vivid account of the event and her testimony on the tribe's culture kept the tribe from losing its land and rights.

"She saved this tribe from termination and its resources," granddaughter Delores George told The Yakima Herald-Republic. "She was never gifted anything and never asked for anything."

Kis-'am-xay died a few years after her 1954 testimony, which took place at her daughter's home on the reservation. She was about 110 years old.

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Tribe Pays Tribute to a Saviour (The Yakima Herald-Republic 6/20)
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