Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Encyclopedia
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 United States near Nogales and south Tucson. In the late 19th century the Tribe began to expand into settlements north of Tucson in an area they named Pascua Village, and in Guadalupe
, near Tempe.
. Among these groups are the Shoshone
, the Comanche
, the Pueblo
s, the Pima
s, the Aztecs, and the Toltec
. Yaquis roamed extensively in pre-Columbian times and sometimes settled among other native groups like the Zunis. After the discover of the New World
, the Yaquis came into an almost constant 400 year conflict with Spanish
colonists
and the later Mexican republic, a period known as the Yaqui Wars
, which ended in 1929. The wars drove many Yaquis north from Mexico and into Arizona.
In 1964, Congressman Morris K. Udall introduced a bill in Congress for the transfer to the Tribe of 202 acre (0.81746572 km²) southwest of Tucson. The bill was approved in August 1964 and the Pascua Yaqui Association, a nonprofit Arizona corporation, was formed to receive the deed for the land from the federal government. On September 18, 1978, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona became federally recognized: the Pascua Yaqui were not formally recognized by the federal government until 1978, when they achieved status as a created tribe, a designation that was finally converted to that of a historical tribe in 1994. In 1988 the Tribe's first constitution was approved. The Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation is located in Pima County
, in the southwestern part of the Tucson
metropolitan area
, amidst the suburban communities of Drexel Heights
and Valencia West
, and adjacent to the eastern section of the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, known as the San Xavier Indian Reservation
. It has a land area of 4.832 km² (1.8657 sq mi, or 1,194 acre
s), and a 2000 census
resident population of 3,315 persons, over 90 percent of whom are Native American
s. The community is governed by a chairman, a vice chairman and nine tribal council members. Police protection is provided by the Tribal Police Department, and fire protection is provided by six full-time firefighters and four reserves. Also they became divided by U.S. government.
The Yaqui people have used oral traditions to pass their history from one generation to the next. This is the history of the Yaqui as told by Ernesto Quiroga Sandoval, Historian, Pascua Yaqui Tribe:
The Pascua Yaquis have a status similar to other Native American tribes of the United States. This status makes the Yaqui eligible for specific services due to trust responsibility that the United States offers Native American peoples who have suffered land loss.
A U.S. government assisted news letter, Yaqui Times, also helps in keeping the people of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe informed.
Blood quantum for membership in the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is at least one quarter Yaqui blood. The Pascua Yaqui legal system gives no allowance in quantum for other tribal blood (for instance, a person with one-eighth Yaqui blood, one-eighth Tohono O'odham
blood, and one-eighth Maricopa blood can not be accepted for membership in any of these tribes and in general is not considered by Pascua Yaqui or United States law to be "Native American").
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, acknowledged by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government on September 18, 1978.
Most U.S. members of the tribe live in southern 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...
. Descended from the ancient Uto-Azteca people of Mexico, the ancestors of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe first settled in the United States near Nogales and south Tucson. In the late 19th century the Tribe began to expand into settlements north of Tucson in an area they named Pascua Village, and in Guadalupe
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...
, near Tempe.
History
In 552 AD, Yaquis were living in family groups along the Yaqui River (Yoem Vatwe) north to the Gila River, where they gathered wild desert foods, hunted game and cultivated corn, beans, and squash. Yaquis traded native foods, furs, shells, salt, and other goods with many indigenous groups of central North AmericaIndigenous 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...
. Among these groups are the Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
, the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, the Pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
s, the 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...
s, the Aztecs, and the Toltec
Toltec
The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology...
. Yaquis roamed extensively in pre-Columbian times and sometimes settled among other native groups like the Zunis. After the discover of the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, the Yaquis came into an almost constant 400 year conflict with Spanish
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...
colonists
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
and the later Mexican republic, 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...
, which ended in 1929. The wars drove many Yaquis north from Mexico and into Arizona.
Present
Pima County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*74.3% White*3.5% Black*3.3% Native American*2.6% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.7% Two or more races*12.4% Other races*34.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, in the southwestern part of the Tucson
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...
metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
, amidst the suburban communities of Drexel Heights
Drexel Heights, Arizona
Drexel Heights is a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 23,849 at the 2000 census.The area is named after financier Francis Anthony Drexel, the father of Saint Katharine Drexel...
and Valencia West
Valencia West, Arizona
Valencia West is a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 9,355 at the 2010 census, a 293% increase over the population of 2,380 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, and adjacent to the eastern section of the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, known as the San Xavier Indian Reservation
San Xavier Indian Reservation
The San Xavier Indian Reservation is located near Tucson, Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. It is the smaller eastern section of the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, the homeland of the tribe known as the Tohono O'odham Nation....
. It has a land area of 4.832 km² (1.8657 sq mi, or 1,194 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s), and a 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
resident population of 3,315 persons, over 90 percent of whom are Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s. The community is governed by a chairman, a vice chairman and nine tribal council members. Police protection is provided by the Tribal Police Department, and fire protection is provided by six full-time firefighters and four reserves. Also they became divided by U.S. government.
Religion
Though now based in Christian teachings, dominantly Catholicism, the culture of the Pascua Yaqui has remained rich in native Indian elements. The Tribe has accepted political integration into American society, but has retained their former religious and cultural way of life.The Yaqui people have used oral traditions to pass their history from one generation to the next. This is the history of the Yaqui as told by Ernesto Quiroga Sandoval, Historian, Pascua Yaqui Tribe:
"The Creator made ocean animals and allowed some to emerge onto land. Some evolved into a short human form: the Surem. These are the early ancestors of the Yaquis. The Surem lived in a time out of mind and were a peace-loving, gentle people who had no need for government. Life in the Sonoran desert was a harmonious perfection for the Surem until God spoke through a little tree and prophesied about new horticultural techniques, Christianity, savage invaders, and disunity. The Surem became frightened about parts of this message and transformed into taller, defensive farming people called Yaquis (Hiakim) or Yo'emem (The People)"
Economy
The Tribal government is the largest employer on the reservation. In addition to a smoke shop and artisan shop, the Tribe operates the Casino of the Sun gaming facility, which includes slot machines, bingo, restaurants, games and employs more than 600 staff. Casino Del Sol, the Tribe's second gaming property, opened October 2001 and has provided an additional 550+ jobs on the reservation and in the Tucson Community. When the expansion of Casino Del Sol opens, an additional 700 jobs will be provided to the community.Government
A tribal council is made up of eleven elected officials, dedicated to the well being and advancement of their tribe as a whole.The Pascua Yaquis have a status similar to other Native American tribes of the United States. This status makes the Yaqui eligible for specific services due to trust responsibility that the United States offers Native American peoples who have suffered land loss.
A U.S. government assisted news letter, Yaqui Times, also helps in keeping the people of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe informed.
Blood quantum for membership in the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is at least one quarter Yaqui blood. The Pascua Yaqui legal system gives no allowance in quantum for other tribal blood (for instance, a person with one-eighth Yaqui blood, one-eighth Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
blood, and one-eighth Maricopa blood can not be accepted for membership in any of these tribes and in general is not considered by Pascua Yaqui or United States law to be "Native American").