Description
The Mayo or Yoreme are an indigenous group in Mexico, living in the northern states of southern Sonora, northern Sinaloa and small settlements in Durango. Mayo people originally lived near the Mayo River and Fuerte River valleys. The Mayo sustain themselves mainly by agriculture and fishing, but also create artwork and crafts. In their own language, they call themselves Yoreme.The term Mayo means "the people of the river bank" and comes from the Mayo River. Mayo Indians are among the most numerous Indian groups in Mexico with more than 75,000 members distributed between more than 260 communities.
Language
They speak a dialect of the Cahita language, which belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family.
Culture
The Mayo are concentrated in the fertile irrigated valleys of the Mayo and Fuerte rivers, which are set in the midst of semidesert terrain that supports thorny scrubland and cactus. The Mayo are settled agriculturalists whose traditional crops of maize, beans, and squash have given way in part to such crops as cotton, wheat, and safflower (for oil). he earliest inhabitants of this region hunted, fished, and gathered plants. They gradually developed an agricultural technique that allowed them to settle in various communities.