Pascua Yaqui Tribe, AZ (June 11, 2024) – On Monday, June 3, 2024, leaders of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe were elected to office to serve on the Tribal Council following the Tribe’s 2024 election cycle. During a ceremony held on June 7, 2024, eleven leaders were sworn into office. New leaders include Thomas J. Cupis, Rosa Soto Alvarez, Jose-Enrique Saldana, Julian Hernandez, Gloria Alvarez Gomez, Irene R. Sanchez, and Rolando Flores. The new leaders will begin new terms in accordance with the Tribe’s Constitution; they will join incumbents Andrea L. Gonzales, Herminia “Minnie” Frias, Francisco Munoz, and Peter S. Yucupicio. Julian Hernandez was elected as Tribal Council Chairman, and Peter Yucupicio will serve as the Vice-Chairman of the Council.
Newly amended election rules mandated by the Tribe’s Elections Ordinance were implemented for the 2024 election. Each member elected to the Tribal Council will serve a four-year term. The Tribal Council is an eleven-member body elected to oversee the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s day-to-day operations, including stewarding social and economic development, carrying out the Tribe’s laws and directives, protecting its governmental and business interests, and exercising the sovereignty of the Tribe. All Tribal Council members were directly elected by tribal member citizens.
Background and History
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a federally recognized tribe with a reservation southwest of Tucson, Arizona, with a 2,216-acre Reservation, established for the exclusive use and benefit of the tribe’s 22,000 members. The Pascua Yaqui recognize cultural affiliation with the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People and with our related cultural communities throughout the Greater Southwest region, including the areas that now make up the United States Southwest and Northwest Mexico. Prior to the establishment of the Pascua Yaqui Association in 1963, Yaquis in Old Pascua initiated a request for land primarily to protect their culture and seek a permanent home. In 1964, the U.S. Government deeded 202.76 acres to the Pascua Yaqui Association and in 1975, the Pascua Yaqui Association sought federal recognition from Congress. On September 18, 1978, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe was officially recognized by Congress.
An Inaugural ceremony to install the Pascua Yaqui elected officials is scheduled for June 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m., at the Casino Del Sol Resort Conference Center, located on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation.