Яки ғасырындағы күрес және мәдениеті

Indigenous group in Mexico and the United States

Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. Today, there are eight Yaqui Pueblos in Sonora. About 16,000 people speak Yaqui, primarily in Sonora, Sinaloa, and Arizona. Yaqui is a tonal language, with a tonal accent on either the first or the second syllable of the word. The syllables that follow the tone are all high. This is known as a pitch accent language.

The Yaqui call themselves Hiaki or Yoeme, the Yaqui word for person (yoemem or yo'emem meaning "people"). The Yaqui call their homeland Hiakim, from which some say the name "Yaqui" is derived. Spanish Jesuit missionary Andrés Pérez de Ribas (1576–1655) first wrote Yaqui and Hiaqui, later spelled Hiaki. Another early 17th century Jesuit first recorded the term Cahita, which refers to the Hiaki, Mayo, and Tehueco. Captain Diego de Guzmán, leader of an expedition to explore lands north of the Spanish settlements, encountered the Yaqui in 1533. A large number of Yaqui warriors confronted the Spaniards on a level plain. Their leader, an old man, drew a line in the dirt and told the Spanish not to cross it. He denied the Spanish request for food. A battle ensued. The Spanish claimed victory, although they retreated. Thus began 40 years of struggle, often armed, by the Yaqui to protect their culture and lands. In 1565, Francisco de Ibarra attempted, but failed, to establish a Spanish settlement in Yaqui territory. What probably saved the Yaqui from an early invasion by the Spaniards was the lack of silver and other precious metals in their territory. In 1608, the Yaqui and 2,000 indigenous allies, mostly Mayo, were victorious over the Spanish in two battles. A peace agreement in 1610 brought gifts from the Spanish and, in 1617, an invitation by the Yaquis for the Jesuit missionaries to stay and teach them. The Yaqui lived in a mutually advantageous relationship with the Jesuits for 120 years. Most of them converted to Christianity while retaining many traditional beliefs. The Jesuit rule over the Yaqui was stern but the Yaqui retained their land and their unity as a people. The Jesuits introduced the Yaqui to wheat, cattle, and horses. The Yaqui prospered and the missionaries were allowed to extend their activities further north. The Jesuit success was facilitated by the fact that the nearest Spanish settlement was 100 miles away and the Yaqui were able to avoid interaction with Spanish settlers, soldiers and miners. Important, too, was that epidemics of European diseases that destroyed many Indigenous populations appear not to have seriously impacted the Yaqui. The reputation of the Yaqui as warriors, plus the protection afforded by the Jesuits, perhaps shielded the Yaqui from Spanish slavers. The Jesuits persuaded the Yaqui to settle into eight towns: Bácum, Benem, Cócorit, es, Pótam, Rahum, Tórim, and Vícam. However, by the 1730s, Spanish settlers and miners were encroaching on Yaqui land and the Spanish colonial government began to alter the arms length relationship. This created unrest among the Yaqui and led to a brief but bloody Yaqui and Mayo revolt in 1740. One thousand Spanish and 5,000 Native Americans were killed and the animosity lingered. The missions declined and the prosperity of the earlier years was never regained. The Jesuits were expelled from Mexico in 1767 and the Franciscan priests who replaced them never gained the confidence of the Yaqui. An uneasy peace between the Spaniards and the Yaqui endured for many years after the revolt, with the Yaqui maintaining their tight knit organization and most of their independence from Spanish and, after 1821, Mexican rule.

During Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain in the early 19th century, the Yaqui showed that they still considered themselves independent and self governing. After Mexico won its independence, the Yaqui refused to pay taxes to the new government. A Yaqui revolt in 1825 was led by Juan Banderas. Banderas wished to unite the Mayo, Opata, Pima, and Yaqui into a state that would be autonomous, or independent of Mexico. The combined indigenous forces drove the Mexicans out of their territories, but Banderas was eventually defeated and executed in 1833. This led to a succession of revolts as the Yaqui resisted the Mexican government's attempts to gain control of the Yaqui and their lands. The Yaqui supported the French during the brief reign of Maximilian I of Mexico in the 1860s. Under the leadership of Jose Maria Leyva, known as Cajemé, the Yaqui continued the struggle to maintain their independence until 1887, when Cajeme was caught and executed. The war featured a succession of brutalities by the Mexican authorities, including a massacre in 1868, in which the Army burned 150 Yaqui to death inside a church. The Yaqui were impoverished by a new series of wars as the Mexican government adopted a policy of confiscation and distribution of Yaqui lands. Some displaced Yaquis joined the ranks of warrior bands, who remained in the mountains carrying on a guerrilla campaign against the Mexican Army. During the 34 year rule of Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz, the government repeatedly provoked the Yaqui remaining in Sonora to rebellion in order to seize their land for exploitation by investors for both mining and agricultural use. The objective of the Yaqui and their frequent allies, the Mayo people, remained the same during almost 400 years of interaction with the Jesuits and the Spanish and Mexican governments: independent local government and management of their own lands.

In 1917, General Lázaro Cárdenas of the Constitutionalist army defeated the Yaqui. But in 1937, as president of the republic, he reserved 500,000 hectares of ancestral lands on the north bank of the Yaqui River, ordered the construction of a dam to provide irrigation water to the Yaqui, and provided advanced agricultural equipment and water pumps. Thus, the Yaqui continued to maintain a degree of independence from Mexican rule. In 1939, the Yaqui produced 3,500 tons of wheat, 500 tons of maize, and 750 tons of beans; whereas, in 1935, they had produced only 250 tons of wheat and no maize or beans. According to the official government report on the sexenio (six year term) of Cárdenas, the section of the Department of Indigenous Affairs (which Cárdenas established as a cabinet level post in 1936) stated the Yaqui population was 10,000; 3,000 were children younger than 5. Today, the Mexican municipality of Cajeme is named after the fallen Yaqui leader. Traditionally, a Yaqui house consisted of three rectangular sections: the bedroom, the kitchen, and a living room, called the "portal". Floors would be made of wooden supports, walls of woven reeds, and the roof of reeds coated with thick layers of mud for insulation. Branches might be used in living room construction for air circulation; a large part of the day was spent here, especially during the hot months. A home would also have a patio. Since the time of the adoption of Christianity, many Yaquis have a wooden cross placed in front of the house, and special attention is made to its placement and condition during Waresma (Lent).

Many Yaqui descendants live throughout the Southwestern United States. There are also multiple unrecognized organizations that identify as Yaqui tribes. These include the Yaqui Nation of Southern California in Thousand Palms, California, and the Yaquis of Southern California in Borrego Springs, California, and the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians, based in Lubbock, Texas. They are neither federally or state recognized tribes. In 2015, the State of Texas passed SR 989, a congratulatory resolution honoring the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians.