Yaqui Indian Dances. Souvenir Folder. Season 1928. April 5, 6, 7 and 8th.

Tuscon, Arizona: Tuscon Chamber of Commerce, 1928. 12mo leaflet (7” x 5.5”) consisting of single sheet, 14” x 11”, folded into quarters; title and text on one side, illustrations on the other.

A scarce souvenir leaflet for a Yaqui Dance ceremony held in Tuscon, Arizona in the 1920s, in part to garner support from the “American people” for a community of recent Yaqui immigrants.

Featuring an image on the front cover of a Yaqui dancer wearing deer antlers, this leaflet describes and pictures the Easter dance ceremony of the Yaqui. One side of this folded sheet consists entirely of illustrations of the dances performed. Noted for their mixture of Native American and Catholic religious thought, the Yaqui enact their ceremony each year at the Barrio Pascua—a Yacqui Indian village northwest of Tuscon. When this leaflet was issued the Yaquis population was around 15,000. The community of Yaquis in question were apparently recent arrivals in the region (evidently from Mexico), as noted in an address printed here by Francisco Matus, Jefe de los Yaquis:

To my friends, the American people, I extend greetings and good wishes from my fellow Yaquis. You are our friends, we invite you to our Plaza to attend our dances and ceremonies. My people are poor, but hard working, honest and ambitious. Because of this, and to better our condition, did we come to your country. It is my hope that we may improve from year to year in our new surroundings. We extend you a welcome during our Holy week.

Included is an overview of the ceremony detailing the various stages and events of the four-day dances—some of these rites blending with Catholic traditions. The Yacqui are known for their ‘deer songs’ which accompany their deer dance; other traditional Yaqui songs include messenger songs, corn wine songs, fly songs, and coyote songs. The deer dance—typically performed all night—thanks and honors the deer (‘little brother’) for leaving its home (‘the flower world’) and allowing itself to be slain so that people may live.

It is noted here that the Committee of the Tuscon Chamber of Commerce “has annually cooperated with the officers of the tribe to bring these dances to the attention of the public. It is believed that this unusual ceremony is of worth while interest to the visitor in our city or for the traveler passing through our city. You are entitled to use your stop-over privilege on your railroad ticket; ask railroad Agent about the privilege.”

WorldCat records just one holding, at the Denver Public Library.

REFERENCES: Montell, G. Yaqui Dances. Ethnos Vol. 3 (1938), pp. 145-166.

CONDITION: A few tiny punctures along old folds, very minor soiling, slightly bumped.