The "Yoeme" or Yaqui are a borer Native American people who originally lived in the valley of the Río Yaqui in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and throughout the Sonoran Desert region into the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona. The Yaqui call themselves "Yoeme," the Yaqui word for person ("yoemem" or "yo'emem" meaning "people"). The Yaqui call their homeland "Hiakim," from which some say the name "Yaqui" is derived. They may also describes themselves as Haiki Nation, the Haiki. Many folk etymologies exist as to how the "Yoeme" came to be known as the "Yaqui".