The customs and beliefs of today's Yaquis are a mixture of primitive legends and Catholicism which unite in a tradition which defines what it is to be a Yaqui. It starts with the legend of creation as told by Ernesto Quiroga Sandoval, Historian, Yaqui tribe.

     "The Creator made ocean animals and allowed some of them to emerge onto land. Some evolved into a short human form: the Surem. These are the early ancestors for 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 Yaqui (Hiakim) or Yo'emem (The People)."

     "We had been told in a revelation from Heaven, that God had given the Yaquis a homeland around the Yaqui River. The Yaquis trained themselves to fight, withstand pain, and die if necessary to protect god-given land and family life. By 1414 the Yaquis were organized autonomous, yet unified, cultural and military groups."

    To better understand the Yaqui's religion and the ceremonies surrounding it, it helps to know how the Yaqui's conceive the world. To them the world (ania) is made up of four different worlds the animal world, the world of people, the world of flowers, and the world of death. Much of their ritual and religious practices are aimed at improving these worlds and curing the harm done to them by the action of man. The religious practices depends heavily upon song, dance, music, and ceremony. Animals and flowers are heavily featured in all aspects of their religious life. The greatest concentration of religious dances, ceremonies and performances comes between Ash Wednesday, and Easter Sunday. During that time all of the different groups of performers are seen - the Deer Dancers, Pascolas, Matachines, Fariseos, Chapayekas, Caballeros, and all of the various musicians.  It is the accessories of these different groups which make up the majority of the Yaqui crafts, and we will try to detail each group, their role and their accessories.