Opata spear tips were made from iron ore. Thus, those Tehuima people were also known as “the iron spear people.” Some anthropological texts state that the “Opata” referred to themselves collectively in their own language as “Joylraua.” However, according to Opata oral traditionalists, Joylraua was the name of an ancient Eudeve village named after an honored chieftain of that village. History 16th century In the 16th century, Ópata may have entered Pima territory what is now Sonora from the northeast. At the time of first contact with the Spanish in the mid-16th century, the Opatería was a land of "statelets," a number of independent, agricultural towns scattered up and down the inland valleys of the Sonora River (statelets: Corazones, Señora, and Guaraspi), Moctezuma River (statelets: Cumupa, Batuco, and Pinebaroca), Bavispe River (statelet: Sahuaripa), and Aros River (statelets: Paibatubo, and Oera). There were at least five Opata statelets, and four others which were either Opata, Pima, or mixed. The statelets had populations of several thousand people, and consisted of towns surrounded by dispersed dwellings and irrigated cropland. The Opata grew corn, squash, beans, and cotton. The Jova, however, were a more dispersed people, living in more rugged terrain, and depended more on hunting and gathering than the other Opata groups. The Opatas traded with other Indian nations (Concho, Zuni) to purchase turquoise in exchange for corn and cotton blankets. Animal skins and roots were acquired through trade with the Jano, Suma (mixed with Apache), Jumano (probably mixed with Apache and Comanche), Jocome, and Manso. Other items were traded with Yaqui, Mayo, and Seri, with whom they shared some fishing and hunting areas. 17th and 18th centuries Sisibotari ("The Great Lord") was a respected Jova chieftain known throughout Opata country who lived from the late 16th century to the mid-17th century. He served as a major intermediary between the Opatan peoples and the Spanish, which helped maintain peace between the two peoples during his time. Father Andrés Pérez de Ribas described Sisibotari, "He was handsome and still young, wore a long coat attached at his shoulder like a cape, and his loins were covered with a cloth, as was the custom of that nation. On the wrist of his left hand, which holds the bow when the hand pulls the cord to send the arrow, he wore a very becoming marten skin". The Opata fiercely resisted the expedition of Spanish explorer Francisco