“It is through song that we are best able to communicate with Mother Earth
It is through song
that experience with other living things in the wilderness
is made intelligible and accessible.
And vice versa.
Songs often take the form of dialogue in which people in the wilderness world speak with one another.
Songs are a vehicle of communication with the larger (natural) community
The continuance of Yaqui deer songs is directly related to Yaqui memories of their history and survival as a people.
The continuance of the deer dance and deer singing through four centuries of attempted conquest is one of e primary evidence that Yaquis’ remain Yaqui.”
-Yaqui Deer Songs (Evers and Molina, 1987)