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"The people ask for bread and the government gives them tortilla."
--Maria Garcia, (Newly-appointed spokesperson for the Indigenous peoples of Sonora, Mexico.)

TUCSON, Ariz. - Struggling for autonomy and self-sufficiency, the Traditional Council of the seven tribes of Sonora, Mexico appointed a Tucson human rights activist as their new voice in the United States. "Maria Garcia is the spirit of the council," said Lorenzo Garcia, a Yoeme (Yaqui) from the village of Bacum, Mexico and director of the Consejo Tradicional of the Pueblos Indios (Traditional Council of the Indigenous Pueblos.)

Garcia, Tarasca Indian, said tribes in Mexico's northwestern state of Sonora are fighting for their land, natural resources and their lives. The Mexican government, however, has not entered into negotiations in good faith.

"The people have reached the point where enough is enough," said Garcia, resounding a cry heard earlier in the southern state of Chiapas. Garcia is married to O'odham in Mexico Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, among the tribal leaders seeking autonomy and self-governance for his people. Lt. Gov. Garcia said, "They have the right to decide their own destiny."

Maria Garcia said the Mexican government needs to know the Indigenous peoples are serious. "They are not children. They are adults."

"The people ask for bread and the government gives them a tortilla," she said.

Maria Garcia, owner of La Indita restaurant in Tucson, meets frequently with the tribes in Sonora. For the O'op (Pima), Makuray (Guarijios) and Kikapoo, conditions are desperate.

"The Mexican government makes a lot of promises to the Indigenous people. But they have no medical facilities, no doctors and nurses. They are left completely alone and isolated."

"They travel on foot. When they are sick, they suffer." The Traditional Council seeks jobs for their people, to preserve the land they have and to restore lands taken from them.

"The government has stolen their land," Maria Garcia said. Land holdings of the Kikapoo were reduced from 10,000 to 3,000 hectares during agrarian reform.

"They didn't have any money. How are they going to work the land or have cattle without money, tools or fences? They need their land to survive."

"We really need the support of American Indians in the United States. If the Kikapoo have tools, maybe they can farm and get their land back," Maria Garcia said.

Tohono O'odham communities are divided by the international border. While the Tohono O'odham Nation is recognized in the United States, it is ignored in Mexico where O'odham sacred sites are located in the state of Sonora.

"The Mexican government is waiting for the O'odham to starve and move to the United States, so they can take their land. The Mexican government says there are no O'odham in Mexico," Maria Garcia said.

Lt. Gov. Garcia said as late as the 1940s there were 17,000 O'odham in Mexico and 3,000 in the United States. In recent years, the population shifted because of encroachment by non-Indians and the loss of O'odham land in Mexico. Today the majority live on lands in the United States, with less than 2,000 O'odham residing in Mexico.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, designed to bring jobs to Mexico, has been of no benefit to tribal members.

"The Indigenous people are not even considered," Lt. Gov. Garcia said.

Recently tribal governors met in the Konka'ak (Seri) village of Punta Chueca, Mexico. Konka'ak said non-Indians illegally fish their waters in the Gulf of California and steal ironwood from their desert land. Non-Indians use the dense wood to produce imitation Konka'ak carvings which reduces tribal revenues. Their homeland of Tiburon Island, designated a nature reserve by the Mexican government, is patrolled by Mexican Marines. Tribal members are not allowed to live on the island.

It was 1989 when Yoeme, Yoreme (Mayo) and O'odham organized the Suprema Authoridad (Supreme Authority.) It expanded in 1994 and became the Consejo Tradicional De Los Pueblos Indios. Joining the struggle for justice in 1994 were traditional governors of the Konka'ak, O'op and Kikapoo.

The council, comprised of the governors of the seven tribes, recently appointed two Yoeme in Mexico and Maria Garcia in the United States to spread news of their struggle.

Meanwhile, the Traditional Council negotiates directly with the Mexican government in the Sonoran capitol Hermosillo. Maria Garcia, however, said the government has not entered into consultations in good faith.

"The Mexican government patronizes the Indigenous people and treats them like children," she said.