Beyond the River and Into the Gulfscape: Yaqui Mobility in Baja California.

This article centers on the historical presence and mobility of the Yaqui people in Baja California, challenging dominant narratives that confine Yaqui history to the Sonoran-Arizona borderlands. It highlights the Yaquis' extensive engagement with the Gulf of California—referred to as the gulfscape—including their roles as sailors, divers, miners, and auxiliaries from the mid-eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, which fostered unique cultural, social, and economic ties across the region. The article documents how Yaqui mobility was lateral and aqueous, integrating cultural practices and community life beyond fixed territorial boundaries, and underscores their contributions to local political and socioeconomic conditions amid colonial and national upheavals. By reframing mobility and Indigenous belonging beyond settler-imposed borders, the study reveals the Yaquis' adaptability, resilience, and enduring identity within a complex gulfscape that spans Baja California, Sonora, and Arizona.