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2 A Brief Ethnography of the Mayos cáhitas and mayos Mayos have inhabited the region since well before the Conquest, though for how long before is unknown. According to Almada (1937:19), a prestigious regional historian, Cáhitas (Mayos and Yaquis) penetrated well into the Sierra Madre. Describing their presence in the region, Almada (1952) wrote: The Cáhita civilization ruled in what is now the state of Sonora until the arrival of Aztecs as they ranged southward in the twelfth century, remaining there during their forced stay. The Aztecs, the bigger and stronger tribe and forced to remain in the region of Sinaloa, came to dominate the Cáhitas, absorbing them and completely breaking up their civilization, overwhelming it with Nahuatl culture. Many groups or clans of Cáhita origin took flight to escape the yoke of the Aztec imperialism, establishing themselves in other parts of what is now northern Mexico. When the Aztecs resumed their wanderings toward the south, only remnants of the Cáhita civilization endured, the Tehuecos in Sinaloa and the Yaquis and Mayos in Sonora. In this dispersed form the Spaniards found them during their continuing conquest of the Northwest. Almada’s historical pronouncement may be fact or fancy but is intriguing. We will confine ourselves to documented history and hope that Almada was right. At the time of first contact with Spaniards, Mayos were settled enough to be more or less constantly at war with the Yaquis, their neighbors to the north (with whom they share a common Cáhita language). They also were involved in periodic skirmishes with other Cáhita speakers to the south—Ahomes, Basiroans, Choix, Guasaves, Huites, Sinaloans, Tehuecos, Zuaques, and other extinct groups. They may have squabbled with Guarijíos and Guazapares as well, but Yaquis were their primary opponent. The boundary between Mayos and Yaquis has for many centuries been the nondescript Arroyo Cocoraque, 16 which flows from the Sierra Baroyeca. It crosses Highway 15 near Fundición, Sonora, between Navojoa and Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, and would be noticed only by those specifically looking for it. In contrast, no distinct geographical feature marks the limit of Mayo lands to the south, even into Sinaloa, suggesting that assimilation of previously autonomous groups with clearly demarcated political (as opposed to physical) boundaries took place in that area. Cáhita speakers lived from the Río Mocorito in central Sinaloa to the northern boundary of Yaqui lands around Guaymas (Beals 1943). Whether all those who today identify themselves as Mayos (yoremem) are descended from natives of the Río Mayo region is difficult to determine. The early Jesuit missionaries considered only those people living along the lower Río Mayo (roughly, below present-day Mocúzari Dam) to be Mayos. Their generally cooperative and peaceful nature, which the missionaries admired, distinguished them from the contentious Yaquis (Pérez de Ribas 1645). The Jesuits gave di¤erent names to Cáhita speakers living on the upper Mayo and along other drainages based on how these peoples referred to themselves (for example, Basiroas, Macoyahuis, and Zuaques) and endowed each group with a di¤erent personality, such as the “fierce Zuaques” and the “arrogant Yaquis.” The Mayos of the Masiaca comunidad of Sonora may only later have come to be called Mayos (Yetman 1998). Jesuits also recognized inhabitants of some southern Sonoran towns as separate nations. These included the Bacabachis, Conicaris, and Tepahuis. The latter two lived on the Río Mayo and today are considered Mayo.1 The fact that at the time of Spanish contact they considered themselves separate suggests that these people probably would have been incensed at being labeled Mayos. Similarly, there seems to be no historic reason why peoples living on the Río Fuerte in villages such as Baca, Baimena, Los Capomos, Choix, and San Miguel should be considered descendants of Mayos rather than of the Ahomes, Choix, Huites, or Zuaques who inhabited the lower river at the time of contact.2 They may all be called Mayos today simply because the Jesuits were partial toward the Río Mayo people for their accommodating dispositions. Another possible explanation is that the Spaniards frequently rounded up indigenous groups and located them in “reserves” near missions. This practice may have produced a uniformity of cultures and languages on the Río Fuerte. For example, by the time of Mexican independence, the people of Masiaca were already being referred to as Mayos even though they lived...

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