News Release

The Southern Paiute Language, A History-Based Brown Bag Talk

Date: July 30, 2019
Contact: Patrick Driscoll, 928-643-7105

Join us at Pipe Spring National Monument for an hour long brown bag lunch talk on the Southern Paiute language, Wednesday August 14th, at 11:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Topics covered will be the different dialects spoken by each Southern Paiute band, the origin of the language and its Uto-Aztecan roots, and how cultural assimilation and trauma from Euro-American settlement almost resulted in the extinction of the Southern Paiute language. Also covered will be current efforts to reintroduce the Southern Paiute language by the various bands through language schools aimed at tribal members and descendants of all ages. This lecture will be given by Ranger Benn Pikyavit, a member of the Kaibab Paiute tribe and elder of the Southern Paiute Nation.

For the talk, the entrance fee of $10/person will be charged for this event held at the Visitor Center, Interagency passes will be accepted for the brown bag lunch talk. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own snacks, food and beverage. Pipe Spring National Monument is approximately 21 miles from Kanab, Utah, and 60 miles from St. George, Utah – just off of Arizona Hwy. 389 between the two communities.