Yaqui

The Yaqui, who call themselves Yoeme, are the agricultural people of the lower Yaqui River valley in Sonora. In 1533 Diego de Guzman's expedition met warriors whose old chief drew a line in the dirt and ordered them not to cross. Forty years of fighting followed.

In 1608 the Yaqui and Mayo allies beat the Spanish, and after the peace of 1610 they invited Jesuits in 1617. The missions kept settlers at arm's length: the Yaqui accepted Christianity while keeping their lands and unity. Encroachment by miners sparked the Yaqui and Mayo revolt of 1740, and the Jesuit expulsion of 1767 handed the missions to Franciscans the Yaqui never trusted.

After Mexican independence the leader Juan Banderas tried to unite the Yaqui, Mayo, Opata and Pima in an autonomous state, rising in 1825 until his capture and execution in 1833.