This project was born from a deep love for my Yaqui cultural inheritance and a lifelong passion for language. Raised speaking only English, I grew up only hearing echoes of my family's linguistic past. My grandmother is the last fluent Spanish speaker in our family, and her father was the last in our family to speak Yaqui. Though I am not yet proficient in the Yaqui language, I have embarked on a personal journey to better my comprehension of it, even as I live far from the Southwestern United States and Northeastern Mexico, the historic lands of the Yaqui people. I am neither a trained linguist nor a web developer, but this project is an offering from my entire heart, inspired by the urgent need for accessible resources to preserve and revitalize our language that is, at least in the States, dying quickly. Therefore it is my intention to research as diligently as I am able to, compile and present the work of experts on the language in a form suitable for students and laypeople.
Hiak Lívrom (Yaqui Books) is intended as a resource for all who seek to reconnect with or learn Yoem Noki. It offers an introductory guide to the language’s spelling and pronunciation, a developing dictionary, and a growing corpus of texts. While humble in its scope, this site is built with reverence for the knowledge it seeks to preserve and share. I strongly believe that compiling Yaqui literature and increasing literacy in the language will immensely help in its conservation. May these pges serve as a small but meaningful contribution to the ongoing effort to keep the Yaqui language alive, not just as a relic of the past but as a living voice for future generations. Thank you for joining me on this journey. God bless your studies and your connection to our shared heritage.
In progress.