Yoeme means “The People.” Our ancestral homeland is along the Río Yaqui in what is now Sonora, Mexico.

Like many Indigenous nations, Yoeme history includes violence, displacement, and forced removal—first under Spanish colonization, later through Mexican and United States policies. Yoeme people were subjected to extermination campaigns, enslavement, and deportation for refusing to abandon land, ceremony, and autonomy.

Despite this, the Yoeme people have never formally surrendered to any government. Culture, ceremony, and identity remain living.