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Box 7.5 The Yaqui RebellionsThe Yaqui Indians of Sonora, Mexico, have a long history of rebellious activity against outside rule
(see the map in Figure 7.1 for the location of the Yaquis during the period under discussion). Oc-
cupying the banks of the Yaqui River, they formed part of the northwest periphery of Mesoamer-
ica in pre-Hispanic times. They fiercely resisted conquest by the Spaniards, and remained outside
colonial control until voluntarily submitting to the authority of liberal Jesuit missionaries in the early
part of the seventeenth century. For 120 years the Yaquis lived peacefully in model villages or-
ganized by the Jesuits, governed by their own native authorities. With the increasing encroach-
ment of Spanish, creole, and mestizo miners and ranchers into their territory, however, in 1740 the
Yaquis joined with the neighboring Mayo Indians in a violent and bloody uprising against the
Spaniards. Later, after the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico (in 1767), the Yaquis dispersed
widely throughout the northwest area and thus evaded effective Spanish control. Consequently,
they did not take sides, nor did they participate directly in Mexico’s independence movements.
Creole liberal policy toward the Yaquis throughout the nineteenth century and into the early
twentieth century called for their assimilation into Mexican society, access by outsiders to their
fertile river lands, and expropriation of their labor for use in the adjacent mines and cattle ha-
ciendas. The Yaquis never acceded to these policies and repeatedly resisted every attempt to
dominate them. Preservation of Yaqui identity, language, religion, and political system provided
the underlying nativist inspiration for their unrelenting struggle against outsiders.
The first major Yaqui rebellion following independence took place in 1828 in response to an
attempt by Mexican liberals to subject the Yaquis to local, regional, and national authorities, and
to divide their lands into individual plots. The rebellion was led by a highly charismatic Yaqui
leader, “Captain General” Juan Banderas, who rallied the native forces in the names of Father
Hidalgo, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Motecuhzoma. Banderas sought to unite all the native
groups of the northwest in order to drive the Mexican Whites out of the area. The rebellion was
interpreted by Mexican creoles and mestizos as a “race war.” Banderas and his forces were ef-
fective in preventing the liberals from carrying out reforms in Yaqui country, and they managed
to roam throughout Sonora, terrorizing the resident white settlers. Organized Yaqui militant ac-
tions ended, however, when Banderas was captured and executed in 1833.
The following decades saw renewed efforts by the liberal governments of Mexico to put the
Yaquis under political control, but continued opposition by the organized Yaqui militias blocked
all such attempts. Nevertheless, the area eventually became surrounded by Mexican mines, ha-
ciendas, and ranches, and the Yaquis increasingly were drawn away from their communities into
wage labor (but not peonage). In 1873, a new charismatic leader named Cajeme emerged from
among the Yaquis and led them once again into open rebellion.
Cajeme, who had previously served in the state militia, was a good organizer and helped
the Yaquis to rebuild their communities and become more self-reliant. Under Cajeme the Yaquis
regained political and territorial control over the river valley that had always defined their home-
land. They adopted an openly nativist strategy to revitalize the ancient communal land tenure sys-
tem, calendar of rituals, and council form of government. Many of these practices actually dated
from the Colonial period, but since the Jesuit missionaries had originally allowed the Yaquis to
blend Spanish with aboriginal ways, the revitalized patterns also had roots in the pre-Hispanic cul-
tures of the area.
Yaqui claims to autonomy were totally rejected by the Porfirio Díaz regime, which had im-
portant commercial plans for developing the area. Contingents of the Mexican army launched
military campaigns against the Yaquis beginning in 1879, and they finally captured and executed
Cajeme in 1887. The Yaquis continued the struggle through guerrilla warfare after that, until in
1903 Díaz turned to the ultimate solution of the Yaqui problem: The mass deportation of thou-
sands of Yaqui men, women, and children to Yucatán and other select areas of southern Mexico.
Many Yaquis fled to the cities of the northwest and exile communities near Tucson, Arizona. In
the meantime, the Yaqui homeland was resettled by mestizo colonists and prepared for large-
scale, irrigated commercial agriculture. The liberals had finally gained control over the Yaqui river
valley, although the remarkable Yaqui people never willingly yielded to liberal authority.