Yaqui Easter

Story by Charles Allen Photos by Clyde B. Smith On the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, is a Yaqui Indian village of perhaps five hundred inhabitants, one of the most incredible societies on the face of the earth. These Mexican Indians and their brothers in several other southern Arizona settlements are literally a people without a country. Having been defeated by the armies of Mexico, they began to drift into Arizona in the 1880's and are still coming, although most of them arrived before 1920. In that year Pascua was built of adobe and tin cans, and after years of harried wanderings, the Pascua Yaquis settled down at lastwithout friends, property, citizenship, without knowledge of the Anglos, without much of anything except fading memories of their former agricultural-hunting life; and somewhat sharper memories of a blending of aboriginal and Catholic religion. They could not continue their agriculture and hunting in Pascua, and so they hired themselves out as common labor, working at odd jobs in Tucson and as seasonal harvest hands up and down the Santa Cruz Valley. They resurrected their elaborate religious ceremonialism, which necessitates heavy financial and time demands (171 days of the year for some people) -a ceremonialism which is too unorthodox to be recognized by the orthodox Roman Catholic Church. For an accurate, lucid, well organized account of Pascuan society and culture, one should read Edward H. Spicer's brilliant book: Pascua: A Yaqui Village in Arizona (University of Chicago Press, 1940). The native lay priests (Maestros, or teachers), along with numerous religious societies, of which the Matachin and Fariseo are the most important, bind Pascua into a cohesive, tight-knitted social group. The Fariseos are responsible for most of the winter social and religious activities, and are in charge of Pascua's most elaborate ceremony-the Easter Passion Play.

The Passion is an extended, complex drama, conducted in Latin, Spanish, Yaqui, and pantomime of Christ's last days on earth. The ritual begins on Ash Wednesday and with gradually rising intensity works through the forty days of Lent to the rejoicing of Easter Sunday. The Play is considerably more complicated than those of conventional European design because of the addition of many Mexican and Indian elements. There are, for instance, during Holy Week, the frequent appearances of Pascola (old man of the fiesta) and Deer Dancers, dancers who probably enact fragments from ancient Yaqui spring rites. There is the running of the Viejito (the little old man) between the Stations of the Cross, a scene that cannot be satisfactorily traced to either European or Yaqui Culture. And there is the rough clowning of the Chapayekas (sharp noses), the grotesquely masked and garbed troublemakers who represent the Forces of Evil. Withal there is a variety of musical accompaniment-Spanish guitars, harps, violins; Anglo accordions; Indian drums, rasps, flutes; and dominating throughout the long performance are the weird and mournful chants of the Maestros and Cantoras (women singers). With the possible exceptions of certain Pascola and Deer Dances, all the scenes are related closely to the main theme the conflict between good and evil, the struggle between Christ's loyal followers and the sneers and plots of the chaotic-minded sharp noses. The Forces of Good, except for the Pascola and Deer Dancers, do not make as interesting a spectacle as do the Forces of Evil. They are not so curiously garbed; and Good is rarely as dramaticseeming as Evil.

The Maestros always appear in their only clothes, the ordinary garb of the Arizona Yaqui-a beaten felt hat, a beaten pair of blue jeans, and a beaten work shirt. Nor do three societies who assist the Maestros in their ecclesiastical business the Temastim, Cantoras, and Kiostim-wear costume dress. But the Tenanchim (women who carry the Mary images) wear white rebozos, and a crown decorated with gaudy ribbons and rosettes against a red background, colors which are changed to a solemn purple and black on Palm Sunday, Thursday, and Friday of Holy Week. The dress of the Alpesim (unmarried girls who carry red, green, and purple flags in the Holy Week processions) is much like that of the Tenanchim. And the children, called Angelitos (little angels), of both sexes wear white dresses and encircle their heads with white kerchiefs embellished with a wreath of leaves and flowers. The Angelitos also wear beads and a rosary, a bright scarf across their shoulders, and carry switches in their right hands. All of these societies perform altar duties in the church.

At Pascua Village, Easter Passion Play combines ceremonies of two religions in dramatic rites.

Then there are the Good Matachinis, shaking their bright gourd rattles to mark the rhythm for their formation dance steps. Their towering head dress, floating streamers of colored crepe paper from a bamboo frame, reminds one of Aztec ceremonial head gear, and contrasts sharply with the drabness of the Matachini work clothes.

The Pascola Dancers and the Deer Dancer apparently play roles that are only vaguely and loosely related to the structure of the drama-at least so it would appear to the non-Yaqui observer. The Pascola Dancer wears a blanket about his hips, and circled about his waist is a belt of sleigh bells. These bells, along with cocoon rattles wrapped around his legs, record the slow movements that his feet and body shuffle to the accompaniment of either harp and violin, or of flute and drum, depending on the dance. His face is covered with a dark wooden mask, sparsely decorated with white designs. His hair is bound in a tight knot high on top of his head. The Deer Dancer, however, does not wear a mask, but attaches a deer head or an effigy of one to his head. Otherwise his costume is much the same as the Pascola's. The musical accompaniment for the Deer Dancer is purely aboriginal -two men saw wood rasps over half gourds, while a third pounds a gourd which is floated in water to increase the resonance. The music for both Deer and Pascola dancers is weird and plaintive to Anglo ears. Since both dances are almost certainly native in origin, perhaps fragments of longer rituals; and since the Yaquis are now pretty completely divorced from the kind of economy that supported these rituals; it is likely that most of the original meaning of these dances has been forgotten. Nor is there much evidence that the Yaquis are gradually substituting a Christian meaning for the older significance. The Deer and Pascolas do, however, actively support the followers of Christ at critical moments.

Of the Forces of Evil the most colorful characters, both in garb and action, are the Chapayekas, all of whom belong to the Fariseo society. The Chapayeka wears a long coat, or a draped blanket to resemble a coat; he wears a "rattle belt" about his waist, either pig hooves or tin replicas; he ties his trouser bottoms close about his ankles with leather thongs; and he covers his feet with thong-tied sandals. Always he wields a long, painted wooden sword and a painted wooden dagger both of which are frequently and cleverly used for pantomiming conversations, fighting bloody battles, and beating out the sharp rhythms for the Chapayeka marching formations. The Chapayeka mask is always marked by a sharp nose, and follows in general three patterns: there are a couple of military-looking caps that may represent the Mexican soldiers with whom the Yaquis so consistently and bravely fought until Porfirio Díaz broke and scattered the tribe in 1886.

The Chapayekas march single file in two parallel lines, and are preceded by a drummer and flutist, a Capitán (captain) and Sargento (sergeant), two Pilatos (Pontius Pilates), and two Bantaleos (standard bearers). And four members of the Caballero (horsemen) Society flank the Bantaleos and Pilatos-all of which needs a little explanation, for theirs are important ritual roles.

The Matachinis are also supporters of the Good Cause. They often dance into and out of the church during ceremonies. Here they are accompanied, extreme left, by Pascola Dancer.

On Thursday of Holy Week Chapayeka adds crown of cottonwood leaves to his costume and becomes the Viejito. His part is a mystifying role to experts. He sits by one of Stations.

The Capitán is the Fariseo Society leader, and directs the Easter ceremonial. Since there is no script of the play, the Capitán must be a man of ability and knowledge: he must remember all the play's details of costume and action, and be forceful enough to keep the pageant moving. He wears a colored shirt and carries a long wooden sword painted in white, black, red, and green. The Sargento is his assistant. The Fariseo ritual heads are the Pilatos. The Pilatos wear black hats and shirts, carry colored wooden spears, and on Good Friday hide their faces behind black handker-chiefs from the accusing eyes of all right-thinking men. The Bantaleos carry the green and red banners of the Fariseo Society. Allied with the Forces of Evil during the early part of Holy Week are the "guards of Christ," the Caballeros. They are apparently conservatives, determined to keep the raucous Chapayekas from going too far in their general rowdyism and Christ-baiting. The drama begins on the first Friday of Lent and continues every Friday until Palm Sunday eve with image-carrying processions around the Stations of the Cross. Starting from the squat, open-faced church at the west end of the plaza, the faithful, flanked by the mocking Chapayekas, pass to the first of the rude, mesquite crosses which surround the outside of the plaza. The Maestros and the devout chant the Catholic oration at each of the Stations. The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem is dramatized on Sunday morning. A processional of the faithful bearing the image of Christ visits the Fourteen Stations of the Cross and finally halts before the church front. The head Maestro and the Pilato Mayor (head Pilate) step forward, knock three times at the entrance, seeking permission to the "Gates of Heaven." The Pilato is present so that he may be "recognized for the evil one he is." After a service within the church, the crosses are revisited, and there are no more scenes until after sunset on Wednesday evening. The Wednesday ceremony begins in the church, lighted with fifteen candles, representing the prophets of Christ. While the Maestros chant the Psalms, extinguishing a candle at the conclusion of each Psalm, the Chapayekas two by two, a dozen or more in all, creep on hands and knees into the church. They beat their swords as they progress, and their signals are answered by companions outside. The last two Chapayekas march in boldly, lift up the altar cloth, look under, set up a howl, and crawl beneath the altar. They, like the previous Chapayekas, are searching for Christ's footprints. Now follows a flogging ritual, perhaps the remnant of an aboriginal purification rite. The Chapayekas rush with full force into the church, followed closely by the Pilatos and other Fariseos, who begin whipping with ropes the Chapayekas. Flogging becomes general: mothers beat their children, the children belabor one another. Shrieks of feigned anguish arise from the excited assembly. Finally the Maestros resume the services. The struggle between the pious and the evil grows in fury all through Maundy Thursday. In the morning the Sacred Heart procession is staged in front of the church, and is followed by a rosary service. During the early afternoon there is a kind of relay race in which a flat board with a wire attached to each side is run from Chapayeka to Chapayeka about the plaza and the Stations of the Cross. When the board is shaken a rattling sound results, a "wooden-bell"-sound that takes the place of the real-bell-sound which cannot be made from Thursday morning to Saturday. (The real bell, the church bell, once perched on the front of a locomotive.) The relay race is followed by The Running of the Viejito, one of the obscure scenes in the Pascua Passion. The Viejito is a Chapayeka with a bearded mask crowned with cottonwood leaves, a crown that possibly symbolizes the crown of thorns. "The Old Man of the Fiesta," a rope tied about his waist, is run by the Chapayekas from Station to Station. At each cross a stop is made, and the Chapayekas lie flat on the ground, with the Viejito sitting for a while on a Chapayeka rump. With the rise of the moon the Chapayekas, guided by a Pilato, knock at the gate to Gethsemane. "Quién buscas?" (Whom seek ye?) asks the Sacristan who waits with Christ in the enclosure constructed of tree branches. "A Jesús el Nazareno," replies Pilate. "Porqué le buscas?" (Why seek ye him?). This procedure is repeated by two other Chapayekas and Pilate. On the third trip they are told that Christ is in the garden. Christ discovered, the Chapayekas appear in numbers, encircle the garden in triumph, tear down the branches, and take Christ captive to the church, where the Chapayekas stand guard over Him all night. Late Friday morning the procession, headed by a man carrying a large cross, traverses the road to Calvary. At the Eleventh Station a Chapayeka simulates the nailing of Christ to the Cross. This is followed by several other long scenes: in the afternoon the Chapayekas destroy the Stations, and brazenly mock the mourners and their funeral preparations; the gayly decorated bier is carried to the church; winding cloths are spread before the Cross, and the body removed and placed in the bier; the bier is escorted by the faithful around the Stations and returned to the church where the Chapayekas guard the bier until about midnight. Soon after mid-night they parade the catafalque out of the church-a signal for the commencement of wild Chapayeka celebration. They shoot off cap pistols, pantomime drunkenness, engage in much satirical dancing, beat their wooden swords, and pipe their triumphant music. It is almost dawn on Holy Saturday when the Chapayekas discover that Christ's body is no longer in the bier. The Sacristans had surreptitiously removed it earlier, to save it from Evil Forces.