From early 500 AD the people we call the Yaquis (they call themselves the Yo'emem - the people or Yoeme - person) lived in family groups and ranged from the Yaqui River in southern Sonora, Mexico to almost as far north as present day Guaymas and Hermosillo. They hunted, fished, gathered desert foods, cultivated corn, beans and squash and traded with other indigenous groups.

     Their legends tell that it was revealed from Heaven that they had been given a homeland along the Yaqui River, and by the 1400's many Yaquis had gathered in that area and organized themselves to protect their homeland and way of life.

     In 1533 the first Spanish expedition entered their territory, and between then and 1610 although they were attacked many times by the Spanish, they were able to successfully defend their land and culture. Still they were attracted by many of the material advantages of the Spanish, and the Yaquis invited the Jesuit missionaries to their land to teach them more about a different way of life. The first missionaries arrived in 1617, and in the first day they baptized over 400 individuals. The Yaquis became willing converts to Catholicism and the first six months over 4,000 were baptized. By 1619 under the guidance of the Jesuit missionaries many of the Yaquis settled into eight villages and built churches. It is estimated that at that time there were approximately 60,000 Yaquis.

     Silver was discovered in the Yaqui River in 1684, and that began a time of great conflict for the Yaquis. As more and more Spanish moved into the area they took land that belonged to the Yaquis. The Spanish wanted the land for farms and ranches to grow food to feed the miners and growing Spanish population. There was almost constant conflict between the two people until finally, in 1740, the Yaquis joined with neighboring Mayo Indians to try and force the Spanish off the land.

     The struggle continued for the next 145 years until in 1887 the Mayo stopped fighting. At this time there were only approximately 4,000 Yaquis left in the Rio Yaqui area. Their numbers had been reduced by losses in battle, small pox, deportation as slaves to other parts of Mexico, and voluntary moving out of the area, back into the mountains, or to the other parts of Sonora or into Arizona.

     In the US the last confrontation between the Yaquis and Federal troops occurred in 1918 at Arriavca, AZ when the US Calvary stopped and turned back a group of Yaquis who were headed to Sonora to help the Yaquis there fight against the Mexicans.

     In Mexico the last battle was in 1927 when the Yaquis were defeated by the Mexican Army at Cerro del Gallo. In 1939 the Mexican President Cardenas gave the Yaqui tribe official recognition and title to their land. In the United States it wasn't until 1979 that the Government officially recognized the Yaqui as a tribe and gave them reservation status. Today it is estimated that between 25,000 to 30,000 Yaquis live in Mexico mainly in 10 villages situated between Ciudad Obregon and Guaymas., and in the United States approximately 10,000 in several areas around Tucson (the largest number in Pascua), and in Guadalupe near Tempe and a small group in Scottsdale.