The Tradition of Recycling Identity in Native Culture: The Re-Traditioning of Tradition

Abstract

Our tribe is Yaqui, or Yoeme, or Hiaki Yoeme. Our traditional language is known as Yoemem; it is connected to the Uto-Aztecan language families that encompasses, among others, the O’odham, Tarahumara, Pima, Mayo and Huichol peoples of the Sonoran Desert regions of North and Central America. There are songs and dances that are shared between some of these language families that frequently contain images of the natural world, such as moths, flowers, deer, or mountains – elements that evoke connection in order to encourage the restoration of wellness and healing through telling stories of cycles of life. For our tribe, these are the songs and dances that one hears most often at ceremony. Repeating and rhythmic, growing up from the landscape, these songs and dances are the ones that call us home.