ABSTRACT
This essentially defensive method of the Yoeme had proved itself quite successful until the Porfiristas, the government of president Porfirio Díaz, came to power in Mexico in 1876. Until then they had at least to an extent been able to keep their core territory free from European intruders but they had not been successful when attempting to prevent a dangerous encroachment thereof. The strong central government under Díaz was ill disposed to accept a Yaqui state within Mexico’s territorial boundaries, especially not as Indians, in the opinion of the government, stood in the way of progress. And modernization and progress were among the most important aims for Díaz, thus contributing to intensity of the governmental responses to the Yoeme and their objectives. “The explicit aims of the Díaz regime in Sonora were to eliminate its antiprogressive elements and develop the potentially rich state, ending the internecine wars.”1 The Yaquis had to face a stronger and more determined enemy than ever before and along with it a severe test of their determination and will to endure. In this struggle, the growing economy of Sonora seemed to have been the biggest advantage of the Yaquis as they were required as a cheap source of
labor to sustain it. Yet eventually this advantage would turn into a disadvantage and work against the Yoeme instead of for them.
