To talk about the old pearl fisheries in the Sea of Cortez is to also talk about the Yaqui Indian Nation. No other native people in the Americas contributed as much as them during the long five Centuries hunt for black pearls. As a matter of fact, there are many stories and lore surrounding the hardships endured by these Sons and Daughters of the State of Sonora.

The Yaqui: Past and Present

The Yaqui Indian Nation is native to the State of Sonora, Mexico, being found in greater numbers near the "Yaqui River", to the south of the State near the cities of Guaymas, Obregon and Navojoa. Although being a semi-nomadic people they had a much wider distribution: northern Sinaloa, northern Sonora and even into southern Arizona (USA). Nowadays, Yaqui Indians can be found in their main traditional towns (Bácum, Vícam, Rárum, Huíviris, Pótam, Tórim, Cocórit and Belém) as well as in the cities of Guaymas, Obregón and Hermosillo, and even up north, in the town of "Pueblo Pascua Yaqui" (in Arizona, USA).

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino: the Jesuits at one of their Finest moments

The Yaqui were a war-like people, full of Pride and Courage, and maybe even the only native tribe in Mexico that did not yield under the weight of the untold blows caused by the "Yori's" (term used to describe both the Spanish and Mexican peoples) steel and gunpowder. They were considered to be "cunning as demons" by many of their adversaries, yet also as näive by others. In any case, the combined attributes of an indomitable spirit and physical strength posed great difficulties for both Spanish and Mexican occupation of the Sonoran region.

In the end, it was really "the Cross" (the Roman Catholic Church, led by the unstoppable spirit of the Jesuit order) the one that made it possible for Mexicans and Europeans to settle southern Sonora, and for the Yaqui to become a part of modern Mexico. The system employed at the Jesuit Missions was very much in concordance with the Yaqui people's values: independence, hard-work and their community as a whole. Once the system was in place, the Yaqui people would be able to develop their communities, but the Spanish conquerors rather preferred the system imposed on other parts of Mexico: a Feudal system of Lords and Serfs. Thus the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico and the rest of the Continent, and had to leave all missions on their own or to the care of other religious orders. Thus the Yaqui only knew a brief moment of relative peace and came a lasting era of turmoil. Today, most Yaqui Indians -as well as their mestizo or Mexican descendants- conserve most of their positive attributes, preserve and cherish their heritage and, of course, their continuous defiance towards injustice.