Pascua Yaqui Tribe

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe proudly traces its ancestry to the Yaqui people (Yoeme), whose traditional homelands stretch across the Sonoran Desert—from what is now southern Arizona into the Río Yaqui Valley of Sonora, Mexico.

Yaqui spirituality blends Indigenous worldviews with Catholic traditions, creating a faith practice uniquely their own. This fusion dates back to the 1600s, when Jesuit missionaries established contact with Yaqui communities. The result was not conversion but adaptation—the Yaqui integrated Christian symbols and stories into their own ceremonial cycle. Their deeply moving reenactment of the Passion of Christ, performed annually during Lent and Holy Week, remains one of the most striking examples of this spiritual synthesis, merging Catholic ritual with Indigenous expression and community storytelling.

Today, the Pascua Yaqui continue to preserve and share their living culture through the Yoemem Tekia Cultural Center And Museum, envisioned by the late Traditional Chief and Spiritual Leader Anselmo Valencia Tori. The center serves as a space where Yaqui Elders and cultural leaders guide the preservation and teaching of Yaqui history, language, and tradition.

Today, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe continues to strengthen its community through education, cultural preservation, and enterprise. You can support the Nation by visiting Casino Del Sol Resort, Spa and Conference Center, and playing a round at the Sewailo Golf Club, where the name “Sewailo” means “flower world” in the Yaqui language—a symbol of the beauty and balance the Yaqui strive to cultivate in all things.