Figure 1.-- Here Mexican soldiers, perhps rurales, guard Yaqui women and children. Themen are presumavly in the hills fightging. The photograph is not dated, but was probably taken about 1911 durung the Mexican Revolution. Yaquis fought on different sides during the Revolution. The photograph would have been tken somewhere in Sonora. They were orobably deported to Yucatan where almost of the men were worked to death.

The Yaqui Wars were a series of armed conflicts between first New Spain (the Spanish Empire) and subsequently the indepedent Mexican republic against the native American Yaqui Tribe and their allies. Mexico with its large Native American population fought quite a number of Indian wars. Many of the best Known Native American peoples were defeated relatively quickly as were the Aztecs in Meico's Central Valley. The same was true if the Inca, although a rump Inca Empire survkived for some time by hiding in the Amazonian jungles. The Maya of all the major civilizations resisted the longest--finlly ending with the Caste War. The Yaqui were an agicultural people located in the Yaqi River Valley (sonora). The Yaqui pf all the native american people resisted the longest--essentilly from the arrival of the Spanish to the ealy-20th century--some 400 years. And unlike the Inca and Maya did not survive by disapparing in to remote jungle citidels. The Yaqui stood and defended their Yaqui River homeland. Although driven out of their homeland periodically into the surounding mountins or deported to far-away Yucatan where they were worked to death. Even sonthe Yaquis in somora continued to return fighting it out with the Mexicans. The Mexicans finlly ended the Wars only with machine guns, poison gas, and air power. Over the years there were a serious of Mexican campaigns and terrible masacres. The greatest dvantage theYaqui had was that they lived in northern Mexico, primarily the arid state of Sonora. The lack of well-watered gricultural land and histile Native Americans meant that the Yaqui did not have to fight off large numbers of settllers. It was the same reason that so few Mexicans settled the Southwest. The problem for the Yaqui began when silver was discovered in the Yqui River Valley (1684). Later the Mexican Government began selling ff Yaqui land and then taxing them. Gradually minor incidents grew in size and frequency. It was not until the Yaqui united neigboring tribes (Mayo, Opata, and Pima) that really serious fighting occured. The Yaqui suceededed in driving out the settlers (1742). This was the beginning of a bloody sea-saw struggle continuing into the 20th century.

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Created: 5:16 AM 12/30/2015
Last updated: 5:17 AM 12/30/2015