THRIVE - Speaker Series - Kelly Washington - Piipaash (Maricopa): The Other Indigenous People of the

Kelly Washington
Director, SRPMIC Cultural Resources Department

Title of the Lecture: Piipaash (Maricopa): The Other Indigenous People of the Salt River Valley

Most residents of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area are familiar with the term ‘Maricopa’, but relatively few are aware it is a name referring to one of the indigenous tribal groups of the land upon which they reside. Even fewer are familiar with the distinct culture and history of the Maricopa who refer to themselves as Piipaash in their own language. There is very little information written about the Piipaash/Maricopa, and what little does exist is usually not from a first-person perspective. In this presentation, I will share a brief history of the Piipaash along with aspects of our origins, language and culture, past and present.

Kelly Washington, Xalychidom Piipaash, is from the Lehi District of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). For the past twenty years, Kelly has served as the director of the SRPMIC Cultural Resources Department that is comprised of the Huhugam Ki: Museum, O’odham-Piipaash Language Program, Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Community Garden. During the ten years prior, he worked for the SRPMIC Education Department where he documented, studied and taught the Piipaash language.

You may also like the following events from Arizona Museum of Natural History:

• This Wednesday, 9th July, 05:00 pm, Dinosaurs After Dark in Mesa
• This Saturday, 12th July, 10:00 am, Summer Reading at AZMNH—Barbara Renner in Mesa
• Next Wednesday, 16th July, 05:00 pm, Dinosaurs After Dark in Mesa