Yaqui Matachines and Chapayekas, Caballeros, and other Lenten Cerimonial Participants.

     Except for the Matachines, the other figures appear only during the Lenten season and are representative of the Catholicism accepted by the Yaquis from the Jesuits starting in 1617. Also, all of the figures date from the coming of the Spanish with the possible exception of the Chapayekas who could be delivered from a clown society already existing in the Yaqui culture before their meeting with the spanish and their influence on the Yaqui beliefs and ceremonies.

     It is most likely that the Matachines and their dances were brought by the Spanish, and are bassed upon similar groups that performed in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries. This accounts for the fact that even today Matachines exist in South and Central America, and in those parts of the southwwestern US that had been originally settled by the Spanish.

     The Matachines are all members of one of the five male ceremonial societies. They have dedicated themselves to the Mother of Christ and our thought of as Soldiers of the Virgin. Besides participating in the Lenten ceremonies, they also are seen during advent and at other events during the year. The defining item of the Yaqui Matachines costume is the crown or corona (named sewa or flower by the Yaquis). The corona is a wooden frame, conically shaped with a rounded top worn on top of a bright kerchief wrapped around the top of the dancers head. The frame has been with colored crepe paper, and there is a mass of bright colored paper streamers flowing from the top. The dancers carry a gourd in their right hand and a short wand (pluma or palma) in their left. The wand is shaped like a trident with chicken feathers attached to all three forks. While they dance, the Matachines are accompanied by musicians palying guitars and violins.

     The Chapayekas are part of the army of the Fariseos (representing Evil or those who persecuted Jesus). Their most distinguishing feature is their masks. Originally they were made of animal hide with long ear, short horns and a long sharp nose. More recently they can have features resembling human beings, and can be made of hide or sometimes cardboard. With the older mask they wear a blanket folded around their body and pinned in the manner of an overcoat. With the human figure masks they wear an old overcoat. In both cases with old and new masks, they wear a belt of leather with many deer or pig hoof rattles over the blaket or overcoat.