Yaquis identify themselves and the Mayos as “yoremes”, a word that means man or person. This same way, they identify white men as “yoris”.

The Yaquis traditionally lived in the bay and valley of the southern part of Sonora, from the southern bank of the Yaqui river to the Tetakawi hill. When the Jesuits arrived, the Yaquis gathered in eight towns along the Yaqui Valley. Their territory has an extension of 485,235 hectares in the municipalities of Guaymas, Bácum, Cajeme and Empalme. This territory has three different zones: the mountain range (Bacatete sierra), the coastal area (the towns of Guásimas and Bahía de Lobos), and the valley (the irrigated lands).

The eight traditional Yaqui towns, from south to north are: Loma de Guamúchil, Loma de Bácum, Tórim, Vícam, Pótam, Ráhum, Huirivis and Belem. Vícam has become in the political and administrative center of the eight towns. In the 1920s a train station was established in Vícam. Nowadays Vícam is inhabited by more yoris than yaquis and is the main trading point in the area.

The International Highway crosses the region, as well as the Pacific Railroad, which has a station in Vícam. In addition to this, each one of the towns has its own roads.

Currently, there are around 32,000 Yaquis in Sonora.

HISTORY

Yaquis have always been identified as a war-loving tribe, ready to fight to defend their land and their right to govern themselves. The first skirmishes with the Spaniards took place until 1607, in which the victors were the Yaquis.

The Yaquis accepted two Jesuits missionaries until 1610, an event that begun the relations between the tribe and the conquerors. It was in this time that the Yaquis were concentrated in the eight traditional towns, which such a success that this territorial organization was considered sacred, and it was impossible to add or withdraw another town. Under the regime of the Jesuit missions, and because white men wanted to take the Yaqui lands, the Yaquis revolted in 1741, leadered by Ignacio Muni, Calixto, Baltazar and Esteban, that ended with a treaty that recognized the Yaquis’ right to keep their customs and government, the whole ownership of their lands and the right to keep their weapons.

When the Jesuits were expulsed in 1767, peace ended between the Spaniards and the Yaquis. The Franciscans, who replaced the Jesuits, couldn’t maintain control. It was in this time when white men started to take over Yaqui lands. In 1825 Yaquis started to revolt against the government, a period that ended until 1936. The first of these uprisings was leadered by Juan Banderas (Ignacio Jusacamea), who proclaimed the independence of the “Indian Confederation of Sonora”, but was processed in 1832 along with the Opata and Mayo leaders of the Confederation. Another important revolt took place 27 years later, with the participation of the Opatas, Mayos, Yaquis and Pimas, and it was not suppressed until 1868, with the almost annihilation of the Yaquis and Mayos.

This period of time is known as the Yaqui Wars, and meant for the tribe huge casualties and the losing of its territory. The government offensive intensified and thousands of Yaquis were sold as slaves and deported to Yucatán and Quintana Roo. The ones who succeeded in escaping went to Arizona.

There was an important Yaqui participation in the times of the Mexican Revolution, because the revolutionary leaders promised the Yaquis to give them back their lands. Gen. Obregón’s promises didn’t stand, and new uprisings occurred until 1929. It was not until 1937 that President Cárdenas signed a treaty with them. This treaty ratified their possession of an exclusive territory of 485,235 ha. Two of the traditional towns, Cocoryt and Bácum, were lost. However, the towns of Loma de Guamúchil and Loma de Bácum were founded to reestablish the eight original towns.

The Yaquis lost their water resources with the construction of the Angostura (1941) and Oviachic (1945) dams. Although canals helped them solve this situation, many Yaquis had to migrate to the larger cities.

Yaquis have been slowly adapting and introducing into Mexican society, mainly because of roads, telecommunications, credit institutions and cattle breeder associations. This economic dependence is a contrast from the political autonomy that Yaquis have won until today.

LANGUAGE

The cahíta language system is composed of three dialects: Mayo, Yaqui and Tehueco, this latter already disappeared. The cahíta is in turn only a part of the linguistic group yuto-azteca, which in Mexico composes these elements: Tarahumara, Guarijío, Pima, Tepehuán, Huichol, Cora and Nahua. Although Yaquis are bilingual, the cahíta language is the mother tongue in the eight towns and the area, with some words lent from Spanish and Náhuatl.


CRAFTS

The main craft activities are those for their religious ceremonies, without any commercial end. The dancers make wood-carved masks, shell and sea rocks collars, and deer hoof belts. Musicians produce their own flutes and drums. Some families produce bags, crowns and baskets out of vegetal-cord (called carrizo), and plates and cups out of clay, which they use for their feasts and then destroy. They also craft blouses, tails, napkins, tablecloths, and veils. The only products they craft for commercialization are rag dolls, which women craft.

RELIGION

The religion of the Yaquis is, because of the Conquest, one that mirrors the native beliefs and customs with the Catholic ones, without one contradicting or being superior to the other. Therefore, the Virgin Mary is an equal to Itom Iye (Our Mother), Jesus is an equal to Itom Achai (Our Father), and other figures as the Virgin of Guadalupe, Saint Joseph, the Holy Trinity and the saint patrons of each town are almost as important.

Protestant religions and Jehovah’s Witnesses have adepts among the yori people, but very little presence in the yoreme population.

The founding myth of the tree or the talking rod refers to a time before the Spaniards coming, when the Yaquis looked for somebody who understood the sound of the tree or the talking rod. This tale describes the separation between those baptized who embraced Catholicism in the 17th century, the ones who refused being baptized (called surem), and those who fled to preserve the yoania, the aboriginal relation with the earth. Jesus appears in this tale as a Yaqui culture hero who establishes the Pascola, Venado and Coyote dances, and Virgin Mary as the one who established the Matachines dance, which more than a dance is a prayer for indulgence. These dances, represented for different feasts, have symbolisms that represent the particular interpretation that Yaquis give to Catholic beliefs.

FESTIVITIES

The Yaqui ritual cycle usually follows the Catholic calendar but clearly distinguishes two periods: the first one sacrificial, in Lent; and the rest of the year all the feasts that are forbidden in that date. These rituals act as stationary markers that signal the different phases of the agricultural cycle.


RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER TOWNS

Yoris and Yoremes interact freely in the Yaqui region. The Yaqui political autonomy and cultural presence contrast with the economic dependence this group has. Their autonomy makes them an incorporated ethnic group that gives them advantages when trading or demanding goods or services.

Source:

Instituto Nacional Indigenista, http://www.ini.gob.mx

Links:

Etnias Sonorenses, Yaquis –
http://www.sonora.gob.mx/historia-cultura/etnias/yaquis.htm (Spanish)

Museo Etnico de los Yaquis (Yaqui Ethnic Museum) –
http://iscson.uson.mx/YAQUIS.HTM (Spanish)

Presencia de los pueblos indígenas del noroeste, Yaquis -
http://www.ini.gob.mx/eventos/noroeste/yaquis.html (Spanish)

Les Yaquis - http://www.arizona-dream.com/Mexique/Indiens/ayaquis.php (French)