Indigenous Radio XEETCH in Etchojoa, Sonora

Radio Indigena XEETCH 700 am

Carretera Navojoa-Huatabampo km 27
C.P. 85280
Etchojoa, Sonora, Mexico
+52 (647) 425 0043

XEETCH – The Voice of the Three Rivers

Radio XEETCH, 700am in Etchojoa, Sonora, is a member of the System of Indigenous Cultural Broadcasters (SRCI). It is supported by the CDI, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples.

The SRCI is a network of community radio stations that serve sectors of the nation’s indigenous peoples, with a mission to promote the multicultural nature of Mexico through the promotion of the country’s 31 indigenous languages.

XEETCH was established on February 19, 1996. It broadcasts in the languages of Spanish, Guarijo, Yaqui and Mayo to the Mexican states of Sonora, Sinaloa and Chihuahua, and is the only indigenous community radio station in the SRCI network in the state of Sonora.

The principal goal of radio XEETCH is to “promote, rescue and revitalize the strengthening, preservation and dissemination of cultural expressions that give identity to indigenous peoples.”

The station has a Consultative Council composed of six members from each ethnic group, chosen according to the customs and customs of each community, with the aim of forging inter-community ties between the indigenous groups – the Mayo (or yoreme, the people) of Sonora and Sinaloa, the Yaqui (or yoreme), and the Guarijío (or warihó in Chihuahua and macurawe in Sonora).

The main function of the Council is to review, propose and adapt programming content according to consultations that are constantly carried out in the indigenous communities, and which deal with the needs and problems of each one of them.

The Council also works to strengthen ties with other regional indigenous groups, namely the Pima, the Tarahumara and between the migrants of the coast of Hermosillo and of the valleys of Sinaloa.

To accomplish those goals, the Voice of Three Rivers broadcasts community-based news and information, has call-in talk shows, airs information about public programs related to health, education, assistance, human rights and other topics. It also plays traditional indigenous music.

Radio station XEETCH has a group of indigenous correspondents who volunteer to conduct interviews and collect sound recordings in their communities. The volunteers also translate radio content into their language, host bilingual programs and receive feedback from their audience. The sound materials acquired by the correspondents give variety and richness to the station’s programming and help to preserve historical and cultural aspects of their indigenous heritage.

This radio broadcasting station is an important local and regional cultural resource, especially in promoting the languages, music and traditions of the three indigenous groups in the region of the “three rivers” – the River Mayo, The River Yaqui and the River Fuerte.

See photos from their 22nd anniversary celebration

Sr. Severiano Valenzuela Buitimea - Radio Indigena XEETCH 700 am - Etchojoa, Sonora, Mexico

Traditional Fiestas of the Holy Trinity in Southern Sonora

Traditional Fiestas of the Holy Trinity

El Júpare, Huatabampo and Etchojoa, Sonora, Mexico

Fiestas Traditionales de la Santisima Trinidad en Sonora, Mexico

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The feast day of the Holy Trinity has one of the longest histories on the liturgical calendar – it has been celebrated for more than 1000 years. And this Christian tradition is a major traditional religious event for the Yoreme Mayo of Southern Sonora and Northern Sinaloa. The festivities begin on the weekend of the Sunday of the Pentecost, which is 50 days after Easter and one week before the Sunday of the Holy Trinity.

Pentecost is celebrated as the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and other followers of Christ in Jerusalem, as they were observing the Feast of Weeks. A peregrination of the faithful begins in the pueblo of El Júpare, Sonora and walks to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Etchojoa, Sonora, Because of this, the weekend activities are also known as the Peregrination of the Holy Spirit of Etchojoa.

On the early Saturday morning of Pentecost weekend, a procession led by matachin dancers followed by a likeness of the Holy Trinity and hundreds of the faithful on foot and on horseback leaves the Church of the Holy Trinity in El Júpare, Sonora.

The procession continues to Huatabampo, where a morning mass is celebrated at 6:00 a.m. Following the mass, the procession continues to the town of Etchojoa, where another mass is held before the fiestas of the Holy Spirit begin.

On Sunday, the caminantes and horse riders begin their return trip to Huatabampo, where they arrive in the afternoon for a mass and a traditional farewell ceremony known as “La Despedida,” where all of the representations of saints that have been borne by the caminantes are brought together to say goodbye before the procession begins the final leg of the Pentecostal weekend peregrination to El Júpare.

The following weekend’s festivities are in El Júpare, where there are fiestas on Saturday and masses on Sunday to celebrate the feast day of the town’s patron saints.