page_title: Yepachic
section_title: Anthropology
hierarchical_section_title: Yepachic / Anthropology
caption_attribution_description: English: Decorative flowers made from leaf bases of sotol, Darylirion wheeleri, Yepachi, Chihuahua
context_page_description: Yepáchic, sometimes spelled Yepáchi, is a community in the western part of the Mexican State of Chihuahua, approximately 10 km east of the boundary with the State of Sonora. It is located in the Municipio de Temósachic at an altitude of 1,780 meters in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Many of the people of the region are members of the indigenous ethnic group called Mountain Pima or the Pima Bajo. They are related to the Pima and Papago of Arizona and northern Sonora, speaking a similar but distinct language.
  Most maps give the name as Yepáchic, but the citizens in the town and the road signs in the vicinity spell it Yepachi. The population in 2010 was officially listed as 851, but this number swells to a few thousand on the holidays when people from small hamlets in the surrounding region congregate in Yepáchic.
  The climate of the region is one of the coolest in all of Mexico. Snow is not uncommon for the region in the winter. Spring and Fall are dry seasons, with thunderstorms prevalent in late summer. Predominant vegetation in the region is a mixed forest of pine and oak. Mountains are frequently rather steep, often with loose crumbling soil preventing easy travel.
context_section_description: There have been several anthropological and ethnobotanical studies in Yepáchic and in the surrounding area. Estrada-Fernández studied the traditional indigenous Pima language, publishing an overview of their grammar, syntax and vocabulary. She identified consistent dialectical differences between communities in the region, especially between villages in Sonora and those in Chihuahua.
  Dunnigan studied relations between the Pima and their mestizo neighbors. He wrote that traditional rituals such as Semana Santa [Holy Week] play an important role in inter-ethnic relations. This is because the Pima control the elaborate traditional celebrations, reinforcing their identity as a distinct group.
  Pennington gathered information on use of medicinal plants by the people of Yepáchic Laferrière continued the ethnobotanical work in the area. He investigated the use of wild and cultivated plants in Yepachic and in the outlying hamlet of Nabogame, 18 km (11 mi) to the northwest. Wild plants eaten by the Pima include 3 species not previously described by modern science (Hymenocallis pimana, Berberis pimana and Prionosciadium saraviki).
caption: Decorative flowers made from leaf bases of sotol, Darylirion wheeleri, Yepachi, Chihuahua
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