The Yaqui Arizona Diaspora
Who are the Yoeme (Yaqui)?
In the subtropical dry forest of Southern Sonora Mexico, along the Rio Yaqui flood plains lives the Yaqui culture. Many live in the cities and towns of Sonora while other communities are scattered throughout their native homeland that expands from the agricultural city of Ciudad Obregon to the outskirts of the seaport city of Guaymas. They are best known for their Pascola and Deer dance, as a 33-meter-tall Yaqui Deer dancer statue stands proudly at Loma de Guamuchil, north of Ciudad Obregon. Symbols and recognition of Indigenous cultures are proudly incorporated throughout the state; however, this wasn’t the case over a hundred years ago. Behind the beauty of the Yaqui traditions is a history of fierce resistance from bloodshed against colonization, resulting in centuries of fighting both the Spanish and later Mexican government. This bloodshed created one of the largest Native American Diasporas, as many Yaquis fled their homeland or were forced to become virtual slaves.
The Yaquis At the Spanish Contact (1533)
Before the arrival of the Conquistadors, the Yaquis lived in over 80 rancherias or villages, with an estimated population of 30,000 to 65,000 mostly along the Rio Yaqui. In 1533, the Yaquis had their first encounter with the Conquistadors. This interaction resulted in a bloody battle which halted the Spanish advancement and they retreated, thus creating the first of many conflicts between the Yaquis and the Spanish. Although the Yaquis resisted the Conquistadors, they did welcome Jesuit missionaries in 1617 to come into their land and teach them about Christ. Over the next decades the 80 rancherias were reduced to 8 Pueblos: Potam, Vicam, Tórim, Bácum, Cócorit, Huirivis, Belem and Rahum. However, by the 1740’s further encroachment from settlers occurred resulting in a Yaqui rebellion. By this time, we start to see many Yaquis becoming laborers for mines and haciendas and starting to migrate outside of their homeland.
The Yaquis After Independence
As Mexico achieved its independence in 1821 the new government saw the Yaquis as citizens that needed to pay taxes, a system that the Yaquis were unfamiliar with. The Yaquis also wanted to continue to have their own self-government, thus creating another rebellion. Southern Sonora continued to be unstable as Yaqui-Mexican relations were off and on conflicts that occurred throughout the century. Most notably between 1876-1887, a Yaqui leader Cajeme rebelled against the administration of President Porfirio Díaz.
The harsh administration of Diaz would not only affect the Yaquis but also the people of Mexican as the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910 of which many Yaquis join different factions, Diaz would go into exile the following year however the Revolution would continue until 1920.
The Deportations of Yaquis (Early 1900s)
Further conflicts continued well into the 1900’s resulted in the Diaz admission to support a solution to end the violence by deporting the Yaquis to become forced workers on the plantations and Henequen farms in Oaxaca and Yucatan beginning in 1903. There are estimates that 8,000 to 15,000 Yaquis were deported to these institutions; the living conditions were horrible, and many died. The Yaqui deportations have been labelled by many academics as a cultural genocide. These conflicts would drive many Yaquis to become refugees in Arizona to avoid this fate of working in such conditions. The harsh administration of Diaz would not only affect the Yaquis, but also the people of Mexico as the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910 and many Yaquis allied themselves with different factions. President Diaz would go into exile the following year and the Yaqui deportations would end around the same time. However, the Revolution would continue until 1920.
Figure 2: A group of Yaquis rounded up on exile to the Yucatan. Circa 1914 Author unknown, Public Domain.
The Yaquis Come to Arizona
Yaqui migration into the American Southwest traces back to Spanish colonial times, as a dozen Yaquis were reported in a 1796 census at the Jesuit Mission of Tumacacori. It wouldn't be until another 100 years that more Yaquis started to show up in Arizona. In the 19th to early 20th century, Arizona was often seen as a bypass state as Americans were on their way to settle on the west coast of California; however, Arizona saw tremendous growth in various industries, one of which was the railroad. One such company, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, constructed the Sonora railway from Nogales to Guaymas Sonora between 1879 to 1882. This became the first railroad in the state of Sonora and attracted not only many Mexican laborers but also Yaquis to work in this new industry.
Figure 3: The Mission San José de Tumacácori located south of Tubac, Arizona. Photo by Jonathan Rodriguez.
One of the first Yaqui railroad workers reported was Juan Flores “Molonko” who came to Nogales, Arizona in 1884; he was a section hand worker for the railway and continued the work in Patagonia, Arizona. Many of these Yaqui track workers would join crews containing both Mexican and Yaqui recruits. Despite being from a different culture than their Mexican counterparts, Yaquis could blend in together with Mexicans to hide their Yaqui identity from being targeted, Yaquis were cautious about identifying as such due to the Sonoran Government targeting Yaquis from the Cajeme Rebellion and later the Yaqui deportations. Between 1880’s-1910’s, the railroad continued to be a major feeder system for laborers from Mexico.
Yaqui Communities in Arizona
Many Yaquis came to Arizona either alone, in small family groups, or as unrelated groups who shared a common heritage. The Yaqui community Nogalitos was founded outside of Nogales, Arizona along the Southern Pacific railroad line; the community served as a waypoint for incoming Yaquis. They never reached more than 100 Yaquis. From this point, the Yaquis continued to follow the train tracks establishing the first Yaqui communities in the Tucson area. One of the first communities was Mezquital along the east bank of the Santa Cruz River about five miles south of the main street of Tucson as clusters of wattle-daub or Jacal homes were constructed there.
Many continue to journey north following the Southern Pacific tracks establishing communities in Marana, Eloy, Sacaton, Phoenix, Yuma. Many Yaquis shifted from railroad work to agricultural labor, especially in the cotton industry. They were allowed to stay in these lands as squatters; however, this meant they were vulnerable when their employer left, or the land was transferred. Thus began a long struggle to find permanent residence, the following sections are split into the notable Yaqui communities that were established in the 20th century; many of these communities became abandoned while many continued to grow and are now contemporary Yaqui communities.
The Yaquis of Tucson
By 1910 there were multiple Yaqui communities besides Mezquital. Farm communities included one near Silver lake in modern day south Tucson, another one north of downtown Tucson Tierra Flora. The community of Sasco, north of Marana became a Yaqui mining community. Meanwhile in Tucson the communities of Barrio Anita and Barrio Libre started to have a notable Yaqui presence. By the 1920’s these communities had a population of 500 Yaquis each, In 1921 the US Border Patrol begun to keep track of the Yaquis and begun to push the Yaquis into one area north of downtown which would be known as Pascua Village.
Figure 4: A Yaqui Jacal (Shelter) in Pinal County. Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain.
The following decades were times of very unstable resistance. Tucson civic leaders did push to give squatter rights to some Yaquis; however, some lost their land due to unpaid taxes. Other incidents occurred even when there was Yaqui ownership as in 1958 when a freeway project that went through Barrio Libre scattered the Yaquis who lived there.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona
Relief came to the Yaquis in 1964 as the US congress made a grant for 200 acres 12 miles southwest of Tucson to convince the Yaquis to take advantage of this program and allowed the title to be in the hands of the organization Pascua Yaqui Association. This shifted a lot of Yaquis to move into this area that would be known as New Pascua, and the future Yaqui reservation. Pascua Village became Old Pascua. In 1970 there were four Yaqui communities in the Tucson area, Old Pascua, New Pascua, Barrio Libre and Campo Burro. On September 18, 1978, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona was federally recognized. Today the Pascua Yaquis recognize the communities of New Pascua, Old Pascua, Barrio Libre, and Marana and Guadalupe and operate two casinos on their reservation. A 2020 US census reported the reservation having a population of over 3,000 and close to 14,000 enrolled members. Today, Tucson remains the largest Yaqui community outside of Sonora and they continue to have their annual Yaqui celebrations in these Tucson communities.
Figure 5: Contemporary and Historical Yaqui Communities in the Tucson Area.
The Yaquis of Guadalupe
In 1906, the Yaquis reached the Phoenix-Tempe area; they were recruited by the Salt River Valley Water User Association to expand on new agriculture enterprises along the Salt River region. Once again, these Yaquis were allowed to squat along these unused lands along these agriculture projects. This area would become known as Guadalupe in 1930. Their numbers continued to increase but Mexican immigrants were also arriving and were integrated into the community as well. There were about 500 Yaquis in Guadalupe at its creation. Meanwhile further north of Guadalupe, there was another Yaqui community in the Scottsdale area known as Escatel. The Salt River Valley Water User Association continued to use Yaquis to work on their enterprises between the 1920s to 1944 before the project was disbanded.
Figure 6: Contemporary and Historical Yaqui Communities in the Phoenix, Area.
Other Yaqui Arizona Communities
Much of the focus of the Arizona Yaqui diaspora is centered around Tucson and Guadalupe; however, outside of these areas there were notable lesser-known Yaqui communities. Most of these communities were also along the Southern Pacific sunset line. However, there was one community that serves as a waypoint far away from the railroad line. In the early 1900’s some Yaqui that didn’t enter via Nogales, some groups journeyed through the Baboquivari mountains in the Tohono O'odham Reservation stopping at the village of Cowlic where they had intermarriages with the Tohono O’odham after weeks or months. However, the Yaquis continued to travel to Tucson. As some Yaquis continued to journey further north, they continued to follow the tracks to a village called Sacaton Flats in Pinal County where they lived among the Keli Akimel O’otham in the Gila River Indian Community. In the 1930s to the 1940s in the town of Eloy, there was a short-lived Yaqui community that was known as Bacatete.
Figure 7: Pasted Yaqui communities Between Tucson and Phoenix Arizona along the railroad tracks.
Yaquis in Southwestern Arizona
Lastly, there was Yaqui presence in the Southwestern Arizona agricultural cities of Yuma and Somerton. The first Yaqui arrivals came around 1906. A community known as Sibakobi and Los Tres Mesquites rose between 1930 and the 1940s. Many continue to follow the tracks outside of Arizona most notably in Los Angeles, New Mexico, and Texas.
Figure 8: Historical Yaqui communities near Somerton Arizona.
The Yaqui Legacy
Today, there are tens of thousands of Yaquis living in both countries. There are about 20,000 Yaqui speakers in Mexico while there are around 1,000 speakers in Arizona. Outside of their traditional home state of Sonora and Arizona there are contemporary communities present in the two Mexican states of Baja California. Some Yaquis have also moved to Sinaloa and Chihuahua. Historically their diaspora expanded over 3000 miles, and they remain as one of the few tribes who were never conquered and ultimately, they achieved their goal of self-autonomy on their reservation in Mexico.
Figure 9: Yaqui Deer Dancer Statue at Loma de Guamúchil, Sonora, Mexico. Photo by Jonathan Rodriguez
Modern Sonora Embraces its Indigenous Ancestry
Between the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and the late 1930s when President Lazaro Cardenas gave the Yaquis land, many Yaquis returned to their homeland. Relations between the Yaquis and Sonora Government then greatly improved, in spite of ongoing protests in the Yaqui homeland often over water rights. There is no doubt that modern Sonora has embraced it indigenous ancestry compared to 19th and early 20th century Sonora. Meanwhile, in the US the 2020 census reported over 40,000 Americans having any combination of Yaqui ancestry. One can safely estimate that number would be more than doubled in Mexico; however, Mexico doesn’t have such an option on their census reports [Only native language speakers are reported in the census]. The Yaquis continue their traditions and celebrations throughout the year in both states. Like many indigenous groups, they are an enduring one that has adapted and overcome their struggles against colonialism as the Yaquis continue their traditions throughout the year in both countries.
Reference:
Carpenter, John P. "El Ombligo en la Labor: Differentiation, Interaction and Integration in Prehispanic Sinaloa" (University of Arizona Press: 1996).
Spicer, Edward H. “The Yaquis: A Cultural History” (University of Arizona Press: 1980).