Yaqui
Encyclopedia
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
. Many Yaqui still live in their original homeland, but some live in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
as a result of wars between the Yaqui and the Mexican government. The Yaqui call themselves Yoreme, the Yaqui
Yaqui language
Yaqui , locally known as Yoeme or Yoem Noki, is a Native American language of the Uto-Aztecan family. It is spoken by about 15,000 people, mostly of the border Yaqui people, in the region around the Mexican state of Sonora, and Arizona in the United States.-Phonology:The remarks below use the...
word for person (yoemem or yo'emem meaning "people"). Their language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan family. The Yaqui call their homeland Hiakim, from which some say the name "Yaqui" is derived. They may also describe themselves as Hiaki Nation or Pascua Hiaki, meaning "The Easter People", as most had converted to Catholicism under Jesuit influence in colonial Mexico. Many folk etymologies account for how the Yoeme came to be known as the "Yaqui".
Lifestyle of the Yaqui
In the past, the Yaqui subsisted on agriculture, growing cornMaize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, beans, and squash (like many of the natives of the region). The Yaqui who lived in the Río Yaqui region and in coastal areas of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
and Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
fished as well as farmed. The Yaqui also made cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
products. The Yaqui have always been skillful warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s. The Yaqui Indians have been historically described as quite tall in stature.
Yaqui cosmology and religion
The Yaqui conception of the world is considerably different from that of their European-Mexican and European-American neighbors. For example, the world (in Yaqui, anía) is composed of five separate worlds: the desert wilderness world, the mystical world, the flower world, the dream world, and the night world. Much Yaqui ritual is centered upon perfecting these worlds and eliminating the harm that has been done to them, especially by people. Many Yaqui have combined such ideas with their practice of CatholicismCatholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, and believe that the existence of the world depends on their annual performance of the Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
en and Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
rituals.
The Yaqui religion, which is a syncretic religion of old Yaqui beliefs and practices and the Christian teachings of Jesuit and later Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
missionaries, relies upon song, music, prayer, and dancing, all performed by designated members of the community. They have woven numerous Roman Catholic into the old ways and vice versa.
For instance, the Yaqui deer song (maso bwikam) accompanies the deer dance, which is performed by a pascola (Easter, from the Spanish pascua) dancer, also known as a "deer dancer". Pascolas perform at religio-social functions many times of the year, but especially during Lent and Easter. The Yaqui deer song ritual is in many ways similar to the deer song rituals of neighboring Uto-Aztecan people, such as the Mayo
Mayo people
The Mayo are a Mexican indigenous people living in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, originally living near the Mayo River in Sonora. In their own language they call themselves Yoreme....
. The Yaqui deer song is more central to the cultus of its people and is strongly tied in to Roman Catholic beliefs and practices.
Flowers are very important in the Yaqui culture. According to Yaqui teachings, flowers sprang up from the drops of blood that were shed at the Crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. Flowers are viewed as the manifestation of souls. Occasionally Yaqui men may greet a close male friend with the phrase Haisa sewa? ("How is the flower?").
History of the Yaqui
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and they defeated successive expeditions of conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
es in battle. They were converted to Christianity
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
by Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
missionaries, who convinced them in the seventeenth century to settle into eight towns: Pótam, Vícam
Vícam
Vícam is a town in the Mexican state of Sonora located in the municipio of Guaymas. It is one of the main settlements of the Yaqui people. Historically the Yaqui also ranged through what is now the American Southwest, and there is a federally recognized tribe in the United States state of...
, Tórim, Bácum
Bácum
Bácum is a small city and municipality in the south of the Mexican state of Sonora at . It is one of eight mission villages founded in the early seventeenth century by Spanish colonial Jesuit missionaries for the Yaqui whom they converted to Christianity...
, Cócorit
Cócorit
Cócorit is a town located in the municipality of Cajeme in the southern part of the Mexican state of Sonora. Cajeme is located in the Yaqui Valley. The comisario municipal is Ing. Arturo Soto Valenzuela...
, Huirivis, Benem, and Rahum.
For many years, the Yaqui lived peacefully in a relationship with the Jesuit missionaries. This resulted in considerable mutual advantage: the Yaqui developed a productive economy, and the missionaries used the income to extend their missionary activities further north. In the 1730s, the Spanish colonial government began to alter this relationship, and eventually ordered all Jesuits out of Sonora. This created considerable unrest among the Yaqui and led to several rebellions beginning in 1740. The Franciscan priests who were supposed to replace the Jesuits never arrived, leaving the Yaqui with no Spanish Catholic religious leaders. From there followed decades of war between the Spanish, and the later Mexican republic, against the Yaqui, a period known as the Yaqui Wars
Yaqui Wars
The Yaqui Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between New Spain, and the later Mexican republic, against the Yaqui native Americans. The period began in 1533 and lasted until 1929. The Yaqui Wars, along with the Caste War against the Maya, were the last conflicts of the centuries long Mexican...
.
The Yaqui leader Juan Banderas, executed in 1833, had wanted to unite the Mayo
Mayo people
The Mayo are a Mexican indigenous people living in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, originally living near the Mayo River in Sonora. In their own language they call themselves Yoreme....
, Opata, and Pima
Pima
The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
tribes, together with the Yaqui, to form an alliance separate from Mexico in the 1820s. His effort failed and the Yaqui remained within the scope of Mexican legal authority. The nation suffered a succession of brutalities by the Mexican authorities, including a notable massacre in 1868, in which the Army burned 150 Yaqui to death inside a church.
The Yaqui leader Cajemé
Cajemé
Cajemé / Kahe'eme , born José Maria Bonifacio Leiva Perez was a Yaqui leader who lived in the Mexican state of Sonora from 1835 to 1887....
led another effort for independence in the 1880s. Following this war, the regime of Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
subjected the Yaqui to further brutality. He ordered a policy of ethnic transfer, in order to remove the Yaqui from Sonora and encourage immigration from Europe and the United States. The government transferred tens of thousands of Yaqui from Sonora to the Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
peninsula. Some were sold as slaves and worked on plantations in Mexico; many of the slaves died from the brutal working conditions. Many Yaqui fled to the United States to escape the persecution. Today, the Mexican municipality of Cajeme
Cajeme
Cajeme is one of the municipalities of the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico. Its capital is Ciudad Obregón. It is named after Cajemé, a Yaqui leader...
is named after the fallen Yaqui leader.
Yaqui in the United States
On January 8, 1918, the U.S. 10th Cavalry RegimentU.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment
The 10th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. Formed as a segregated African-American unit, the 10th Cavalry was one of the original "Buffalo Soldier" regiments. It served in combat during the Indian Wars in the western United States, the Spanish-American War in Cuba and in the...
was involved in a firefight
Battle of Bear Valley
The Battle of Bear Valley was a small engagement between the revolutionary Yaqui natives and the United States Army on January 9, 1918 in southern Arizona. This skirmish is widely recognized as the final battle of the American Indian Wars.-Background:...
with Yaqui Indians just west of Nogales, Arizona
Nogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
. E Troop intercepted a group of American Yaqui on their way to render aid to Yaqui of Sonora, who were in the midst of long-running war with the Mexican Government.
With the Mexican Revolution many Yaqui refugees fled to the United States. Many settled in urban barrios, including Barrio Libre and Pascua in Tucson and Guadulupe and Scottsdale in the Phoenix area. Yaquis built homes of scrap lumber, railroad ties, and other materials, eking out an existence while taking great pains to continue the Eastern Lenten ceremonies so important to community life. They found work as migrant farm laborers and in other rural occupations. Due to their poverty, in the early 1960s spiritual leader Anselmo Valencia approached University of Arizona anthropologist Edward Holland Spicer to help his people. A noted authority on the Yaqui, Spicer, Muriel Thayer Painter, and others created the Pacua Yaqui Association (PYA). Congressman Morris Udall agreed to aid the Yaquis in securing a land base. In 1964, the U.S. government gave the Yaqui 202 acres (817,000 m²) of land southwest of Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. It was held in trust for the people. Under Valencia and Ramond Ybarra, the PYA developed homes and other infrastructure at the site. Realizing the difficulties of developing the 202 acres (known as New Pascua) without the benefit of federal tribal status, in the mid-1970s the Yaquis once again had Mo Udall and others sponsor federal tribal recognition legislaton. The US formally recognized the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a tribe of Native Americans, acknowledged by the United States government on September 18, 1978.Most U.S. members of the tribe live in southern Arizona. Descended from the ancient Uto-Azteca people of Mexico, the ancestors of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe first settled in the...
based on this land on September 18, 1978. The Yaquis were the last tribe recognized prior to the formal BIA Federal Acknowlegment Process established later in 1978.
The Yaqui have dwelt in the area of the present-day southwestern United States since before the incursions by Spanish missionaries and soldiers in the 18th century. The Yaqui oral tradition and history says there were small Yaqui settlements centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. The town of Tubac, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, had Yaqui in its Spanish garrison. Several communities of Yaqui have existed in Arizona since the 19th century: Pascua Pueblo is in the northwestern part of Tucson and Hu'upa was to the south. It has since been absorbed into the Valencia and Freeway neighborhood of Tucson. In addition, Marana
Maraña
Maraña is a small village in Spain in the province of León, in the Picos de Europa, close to Asturias.The major festival is August 15, the Festival of Our Lady of Riosol-External links:*Location of Maraña...
has had continuous settlements of Yaqui.
In the late 1960s, several Yaqui, among them Anselmo Valencia and Fernando Escalante, started development of a tract of land about 8 km to the west of the old Hu'upa site, calling it New Pascua (in Spanish, Pascua Nuevo). This settlement has a population (estimated in 2006) of about 4,000 and is the center of administration for the Tribe. Most of the middle-aged population of New Pascua use English, Spanish, and a moderate amount of Yaqui
Yaqui language
Yaqui , locally known as Yoeme or Yoem Noki, is a Native American language of the Uto-Aztecan family. It is spoken by about 15,000 people, mostly of the border Yaqui people, in the region around the Mexican state of Sonora, and Arizona in the United States.-Phonology:The remarks below use the...
. Many older people also speak the Yaqui language fluently, and a growing number of youth are learning the Yaqui language in addition to English and Spanish.
Many Yaqui moved further north, near Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
. They settled in a neighborhood named after Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe , also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.According to tradition, on December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady...
. The town incorporated in 1979 as Guadalupe, Arizona
Guadalupe, Arizona
Guadalupe is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 5,258. The town is nestled between Phoenix and Tempe. Since its founding, it has been known as a center of Yaqui culture and it is home to many religious festivals...
. Today, more than 44 percent of the town's is Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, and many are trilingual in Yaqui, English and Spanish.
A small Yaqui neighborhood known as Penjamo is located in South Scottsdale, Arizona.
The California Yaqui Association is based in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, and a small band of Yaqui live in the border town of Presidio, Texas
Presidio, Texas
Presidio is a city in Presidio County, Texas, United States. It stands on the Rio Grande , on the opposite side of the U.S.-Mexico border from Ojinaga, Chihuahua. The population was 4,167 at the 2000 census....
. In all, in 2008, the tribe counted 11,324 voting members.
Notable Yaqui
- Rudy Youngblood, actor, best known for his lead role in the epic movie, "Apocalypto".
- Anthony "Tony" BellamyTony BellamyAnthony Bellamy or Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy, born as Anthony Avila on 12 September 1946 to parents James and Olga Bellamy, died 25 December 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was a Mexican-American Yaqui Indian, who became the lead guitarist, pianist and vocalist for the Native American rock band Redbone, in...
, the lead guitarist, pianist and vocalist of the 1970s band RedboneRedbone (band)Redbone is a Native American rock group that was most active in the 1970s. They reached the Top 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974 with the million-selling gold-certified single, "Come and Get Your Love".-History:... - Raul (Roy) Perez BenavidezRoy BenavidezRaul Perez Benavidez was a member of the Studies and Observations Group of the United States Army. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat near Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on May 2, 1968....
, a member of the highly classified Studies and Observations Group during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for his actions in eastern CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
(although the citation stated that they occurred "west of Loc Ninh, Republic of Vietnam" on May 2, 1968). - Rod CoronadoRod CoronadoRodney Adam Coronado is a Native American eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front...
, an eco-anarchist, and animal rights activist. - María FélixMaría FélixMaría Félix was a Mexican film actress and one of the icons of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico and also one of the myths of the Spanish language Cinema for her life style and personality...
, a Mexican actress who was part of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico - Don Juan MatusDon Juan MatusDon Juan Matus is a major figure in the series of books on Nagual 'Sorcery' by Carlos Castaneda.Matus is described as a Yaqui Indian to whom Castaneda was first introduced at a bus depot in Yuma, Arizona in the early 1960s. He turns out to be a 'Man of Knowledge' who imparts much of his wisdom and...
, sorcerer from Sonora, Mexico (featured in books by Carlos CastanedaCarlos CastanedaCarlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
) - Ritchie ValensRitchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
, Mexican/American of Yaqui and Spanish descent, known for being a singer, songwriter and guitarist. - Gabriel Ayala: Guitarist.
- Dr. Yvonne Chavez-Rodriguez, physicist at University of California Santa Cruz
- Alma Grande, comic book hero during 1960's
- Alex Maldonado: Yaqui flautist.
- Mario Martinez: Yaqui Artist Painter.
- Felipe Molina, a Yaqui author, traditional singer, and teacher.
- Count Salaz, a Bay area entertainer; "The Sonoma County Robert Downey"
- Phil OrtegaPhil OrtegaFilomeno Coronada Ortega , is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1960-1969 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, and Washington Senators. Ortega was of Yaqui Indian descent...
- professional baseball player - Iz Sotelo Ramirez, a Hispanic/Yaqui Author of children's book entitled: "Bob the Lizard", also specializes in custom beadworking, and Powwow dancing throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
- Hector O. Valencia, a flautist, artist and craftsman, making items such as dream catchers, walking sticks, and moccasins. He fought for the U.S. in the Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. - Alvaro "Yaqui" Lopez, Light Heavyweight boxer and Boxing Hall of Fame member from Stockton, CA.
- Louis David Valenzuela, a traditional Yaqui mask and woodcarver.
- Joaquin Cardiel, bass guitarist for the Spanish rock band Heroes Del Silencio. Born in Spain, he is of ethnic Yaqui descent.
External links
- The Official Website of the Pascua Yaqui Government
- The Un-Official Website of Yoemem/Yaquis in Mexico
- 15 Flower World Variations - adapted by Jerome Rothenberg from Yaqui Deer Dance SongsVachiam eecha Yaqui cuadernos
- Hector O. Valencia's War Record
- Hector O. Valencia's proof of residence
- Dario N. Mellado (Fine Art & Illustration).