Pre-Contact Lifeways (<1617)
Early European records indicate that, prior to contact, the Yaqui lived in 80 rancheria-style settlements scattered along the lower 60 miles of the fertile Yaqui River Valley. Although this territory falls within the Sonoran desert region, the area adjacent to the river is quite lush and can be dependably farmed.
In addition to floodwater and irrigation agriculture, the Yaqui hunted, gathered wild resources, and collected shellfish and large saltwater fish from the coast. Their settlements, which consisted of clusters of dome-shaped, cane-covered houses, held an average of 250 people. Agricultural surpluses made a sedentary lifestyle possible, though Yaqui settlements were frequently moved due to flooding.
Yaqui River
Source - by Tomas Castelazo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yaqui_River.jpg
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