There are seven ethnic groups in Sonora: Mayos, Yaquis, Guarijíos, Pimas, Seris, Pápagos and Cucapás. To this list of original tribes, we must add the Kikapú, who have inhabited this territory for more than 100 years.
In 2010, 2% of the population of that entity spoke an indigenous language. That was the result of a population and housing census carried out in Mexico that year.
Sonora
At the time of the conquest, the mineral wealth of this state aroused the interest of the Spanish.
However, the indigenous tribes of Sonora resisted, waging a long battle that lasted until the 20th century.
Brief description of the ethnic groups of Sonora
May
One of the most representative ethnic groups in Sonora are the Mayo. Mainly, they are located along the alluvial plains of its homonymous river, south of Sonora.
Their dialect is one of the two survivors of the Cahita language. Yoremem, the word they use to refer to themselves, means "people who honor tradition." The other people are called yori, "people who betray tradition."
Today, the members of this culture live in small towns and rural settlements called rancherías.
In these places they intermingle with the mestizos and, to a large extent, have been able to integrate into the socio-economic structure of the region.
Yaquis
The Yaqui indigenous people are an important reference within the ethnic groups of Sonora. They are mainly concentrated in the south of the state.
The Yaqui dialect comes from the Cahita language, which belongs to the Uto-Aztec language family. This tribe offered stiff resistance to the first Spanish invaders in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Due to this factor and the infectious diseases they contracted from the peninsulars, their population was drastically reduced.
Today, although they are Catholic, the way they profess their worship is clearly influenced by aboriginal practices.
Guarijíos
Historically, the Guarijíos people have also been called uarojíos, varohíos, and warihíos.
This ethnic group lives in the Sierra Madre Occidental to the southeast of Sonora and the southwest of Chihuahua.
Their language is closely related to that of their northeastern neighbors, the Tarahumara. Almost all Guarijíos live in the Mayo river basin, between the Tarahumara and the Mayos.
Pimas
The Pima Indians have lived for many centuries in scattered locations throughout northern Sonora and southern Arizona.
The Upper Pima lived in the north and their linguistic siblings, the Lower Pima, lived further south in Sonora.
Will be
Seris inhabit the sands and coasts of the Mexican nation. The Conca'ac, as they are also known, have traveled the most inhospitable corners of Mexico and have faced droughts, wars and exiles.
His abilities to survive in the desert are amazing. Also, they are excellent fishermen and have great hunting skills.
Papagos
Self-styled "people of the desert" (tohono o'odham), the Papagos live mostly in the deserts of Sonora and the US state of Arizona.
Although they claim to be Catholic and practice many rites of this religion, they are still deeply influenced by their ancestral roots.
The Papagos worship a god who controls the elements of nature.
Cucapás
This ethnic group lives on the border with the United States of North America. It is an almost extinct indigenous group.
Linguistically they are related to some tribes of Baja California, and with others of the United States, forming the Yumana family.
These arrived in the northwest of Sonora and north of the Baja California peninsula about six millennia ago.
Kikapú
In the state of Sonora, the Kikapú live in the Sierra de Sonora, specifically in the municipality of Bacerac.
Their settlements in the communities of El Nacimiento, Coahuila and in Tamichopa are the result of their long pilgrimage from Michigan and Eire, in the North American territory, to the north of the Aztec nation.
The Kikapú Sonoran ethnic group speaks Spanish, as the last speaker of their ancestral language died some thirty years ago. Thus, this ethnic group is in danger of losing its cultural identity.
References
- Zárate Valdez, JL (2016). Ethnic groups of Sonora: territories and current conditions of life and backwardness. In Region and society, 28 (65), pp 5-44. Retrieved on September 27, 2017, from scielo.org.mx.
- Population and Housing Census 2010. (2011). INEGI. Retrieved on September 26, 2017, from beta.inegi.org.mx.
- Schmal, JP Sonora: four centuries of indigenous resistance. At Houston Institute for Culture. Retrieved on September 29, 2017, from houstonculture.org.
- Levin Rojo, DA (2015). May people. In SL Danver (editor), Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues
native people of the world, pp. 142-143. New York: Routledge.
- And here. (2013, June 18). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on September 27, 2017, from britannica.com.
- Yetman, D. (2002). The Guarijios of the Sierra Madre: Hidden People of Northwestern Mexico. Albuquerque: UNM Press.
- Ethnic groups of Sonora. (2014, November 24). Government of the State of Sonora. Retrieved on September 27, 2017, from sonora.gob.mx.
- Castañeda, MJ (2016, January 04). The Seris, the nomadic ethnic group from Sonora that survives against all odds. Retrieved on September 29, 2017, from masdemx.com.