Yaquis Pascua

Yaquis

Arizona is a big beautiful state with a lot of history; also, it has many beautiful places to visit. Also, there are many Indian Reservations in Arizona like Navajo, Tonto Apache, and Cocopah. However, there is one tribe that emigrates from Mexico to the United States a long time ago which is the Pascua Yaqui Tribe also know it like Yaquis. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has a lot of history on the North of Mexico since they are from there. In order to understand the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, it is necessary to study the History, Homeland, and Religion.

The history of the Yaquis tribe is much extended and somehow a little complicate because the Yaquis have participated in many historical situation. Around the 1550 there was the first fight between Yaquis and Spaniards. As the author Edward H. Spicer says in his book “The Yaquis: A Cultural History” the Yaquis called themselves Yoeme, and their language comes from the Aztecs language. The Yaquis’ language is one of many native language familiarities with the Aztecs language. In the early 1600s there were around 30,000 Yoeme (Yaquis) that were reported by the Jesuits Missionaries. By 1617, the Yaquis allowed the Jesuits missionaries to live in their territory and to have a communication between Yaquis and Jesuits. Andres Perez de Ribas was a Jesuit that had a lot of communication and human relation with the Yoeme. As the author Edward H. Spicer says on his book that Andres Perez de Ribas said that the Yaquis were the most barbarous people in the new world; however, de Ribas means it on a good way. Andres Perez de Ribas and his colleague, Tomas Basilio, were sending to a mission by the Captain Hurdaide, who was trying to take the Yoeme territory, to make the Yaquis less aggressive and more religious. On the first week that De Ribas was on Yoeme territory, he was accused by one of the leader of the Yaquis, who was unfriendly, that he was going to turn out and being aggressive and destructive like the rest of the Spaniards. However, the others leaders were protecting Andres Perez de Ribas since they believed that the Jesuits will help and bring a lot of good things especially in a peaceful way. On 1623, apparently the Jesuits had baptized almost all the Yaquis people who are 30,000 Yaquis; also, the Yaquis had constructed eight churches for every pueblo (town) which are Ko’oko’im, Bahcum, Torim, Vicam, Potam, Rahum, Wibisim, and Beene. Few years later, Captain Hurdaide tried to negotiate with the Yaquis since he was not enabled to take his territory; also, the Yaquis were demonstrating that they wanted to change and adapt since the situation. Yaquis were making more peaceful people as the author Edward H. Spicer says on his book that the Jesuits did not need military backing. Many years later, on the 1800s there was another confliction between Yaquis and Mexicans since Mexico wanted the Indian Territory. The Yaquis and others tribes were together to solve this confliction that they have for many years since the first Spanish arrived on their territory. One important leader from the Yaqui tribe, who convinced the Mayo, Pima, and Opata Tribes to fight together, was Juan Banderas. The official website from the Yaquis in Arizona says that Juan Banderas and an Opata leader were caught and executed in the year 1833 by the Mexican army. Around the same time that Juan Banderas was execute, many Yaquis leaved their territory and the Rio Yaqui area to fight in others places. Others moved to Arizona and start their life in other territory since they were tired of fighting back to protect their home the Rio Yaqui area. By 1868, many Yaquis were captured including women and children, and they were force to work like slaves on different parts of Mexico. Also, many Yaquis were slaughtered inside of churches that they were built by the Yaquis. Yoemes that were working like slaves in different parts of Mexico; also, they were working like slaves on others parts like Bolivia, the Islands of the Caribbean, and the United States as the official website of the Yaquis in Arizona says. In the late 1800s, the Yaquis were still fighting back; however, some tribes were surrendering like the Mayo tribe. There were just a few Yaquis who were fighting against the Mexicans led by Juan Maldonado, who was known as Tetabiakte that means “Rolling Stone”, and Cajeme that means “He Who Does Not Drink”. They were the last leaders who fought against the Spanish and the Mexicans for many years. The Yaquis from the Rio Yaqui area were helped by the Yaquis from Arizona to protect their territory by sending supplies and guns. In 1897, Mexico government and the Yaquis signed a peace treaty at Ortiz, Sonora. People say that to know who you are and where are you going it is necessary to know where you came from; therefore, that is why the history of the Yaquis is very important to know before talking about the Yaquis of the present.

The Rio Yaqui is located on the south of the state of Sonora. Nowadays there is a city called Obregon that it is close to the Rio Yaqui; also, the Yaqui pueblos still there in the Rio Yaqui are. The river length is about 410km from the Sierra Madre Occidental to the Gulf of California. They are eight Yaqui pueblos in the area which are Bahcum, Torim, Vicam, Potam, Rahum, Wibisim, Beene, and ko’oko’im. Each name has a meaning; for example, Bahcum means “where water comes out”, Torim means “Gray tree-living rodents”, Vicam means “Arrow points”, Potam means “Ground moles”, Wibisim means “Bird with reddish eyes”, Beene means “Flat, sloping place”, and Ko’oko’im means “Chile peppers”. Every pueblo has its own church that they were built at the time the Jesuit lived there. The Yoeme homeland is desert with a very low rain in the year. Nowadays there is a lot of agriculture, and the farmers use the water from the Rio Yaqui to watering the agriculture. However, on the past the Yaquis were not very good with the agriculture; they were better hunting their food. They know very well all the Rio Yaqui area like the palm of their hand. The weather in the Rio Yaqui area is different depending on the station of the year. In the summer, the weather is extremely

...