Mythologies of the Bribri/Abicetava Tribe

 

The Bribri (also Abicetava) are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish. There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. Estimates of the total Bribri population range as high as 35,000 people, although official estimates assert there are about 11,500 Bribri people in Costa Rica, and about 1000 Bribri people in Panama. According to a census by the Ministerio de Salud of Costa Rica however, there are 11,500 Bribri living within service range of the Hone Creek Clinic alone, suggesting the total Costa Rican Bribri population is larger. They are also a voting majority in the Puerto Viejo de Talamanca area. The Bribri historically struggled to remain on their land and preserve their culture, though the Costa Rican government currently recognizes their use of designated Indigenous Territories, and they are one of the formally recognized Indigenous peoples of Panama. Political struggles by some Bribri activists for the legal recognition of further claims to the land they inhabit and autonomy are ongoing in both countries. The Bribri are indigenous to the Talamanca region, living in the mountains and Caribbean coastal areas of Costa Rica and Northern Panama. The majority live with running water but many have scarce electricity. Their economy centers on the growth of cacao, bananas, and plantains to sell along with the consumption of beans, rice, corn, and a variety of other produce. Many Bribri are isolated from Hispanic culture and the global economy. This has allowed them to maintain their indigenous culture and language, although it has also resulted in less access to education and health care. Although the group has the lowest income per capita in Costa Rica, they are able to fulfill their basic needs by growing their food, finding medicine, and collecting housing materials in the forest. They also earn money to purchase what they cannot grow themselves through tourism and by selling cacao, bananas, and plantains.

The world knows Costa Rica as a destination of breathtaking landscapes from the haunting cloud forests to the lush jungle rainforests, tropical beaches to the rich green mountains. But there is much more to this gorgeous country, the people and their culture are what makes it so special and unique. Costa Rica is home to approximately eight main indigenous groups with the Bribri population being that of the largest indigenous group in the country in the province of Limon. Deep into the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica near the border of Panama the Bribri indigenous people reside scattered throughout the Talamanca Mountain range and southern islands isolated from others. Off the beaten path, away from mainstream society and influences, secluded, they strive for their independence and self-sufficiency allowing them to preserve their indigenous culture. Some have journeyed out to live throughout Costa Rica, however, a large percentage continue to call this region home. Translated into Spanish Bribri is valiente, meaning brave, courageous, and valiant in English. This is the essence of the Bribri indigenous people withstanding the test of time, maintaining their beliefs, traditions, and culture. They speak primarily two languages, Spanish, and one that is of their own, the Bribri language which is a Chibchan language of Central America that they continue to preserve through generations. This is often spoken in their homes and amongst families, within their spiritual centers, and during their traditional ceremonies. Their tribal name of Bribri descends from the word meaning mountainous and uneven terrain when translating it from their language, which is considered to be a tone language that uses an SOV word order, subject-object-word. There are three different dialects spoken which have been named after the groups that use them Salitre-Cabagra, (Pacific) Coroma (Eastern), and Katsi-Amubre (Western).

The Bribri people are highly skilled artisans who demonstrate remarkable creativity in their craftwork. Using natural materials and colors derived from plants and animals, they produce a wide array of products including pottery, basketry, netting, rope, and jewelry. Moreover, the Bribri possess a rich oral tradition comprising stories, songs, and myths that encapsulate their worldview and values. These narratives find expression in their masks, which are worn by men during the ceremonial “Juego de los Diablitos” (Game of the Little Devils). This ritual symbolizes the resistance of the Indigenous people against the Spanish invaders. Carved from wood and adorned with vibrant colors and intricate designs featuring horns, tusks, and other animal parts, these masks are a testament to the Bribri tribe’s artistic prowess. Additionally, Bribri women are adept at weaving textiles using cotton collected from trees. They dye the textiles with natural inks and transform them into threads using wooden devices. These textiles showcase cultural and environmental motifs such as animals, plants, stars, and geometric shapes, and are utilized to create handbags, coin purses, belts, and other accessories. Another noteworthy craft of the Bribri tribe is the creation of “jícaras,” vessel-shaped crafts made from hardened fruits. These “jícaras” serve as kitchen utensils and drinking cups for “chicha,” a fermented corn-based beverage. Adorned with carvings depicting the daily activities of the village and local wildlife, the “jícaras” play a crucial role in preserving and transmitting the Bribri culture and identity to future generations. Thus, the crafts and arts of the Bribri people serve not only as a source of income but also as a means of cultural preservation.

The Bribri are an indigenous group in Costa Rica, with an estimated population of 11,500. They are called Costa Rica's "hidden people"—their isolation from society allows them to retain Bribri culture, ethnicity and religion. Yorkin, a Bribri village of about 280, is secluded in the mountainous Talamanca region. The innovative women of Yorkin, a matriarchal society, started Stribrawpa, an organization that promotes economic and cultural growth through ecotourism, sustainable development, cacao harvesting and cultural education. But Bribri culture is under threat. There has not been a graduating high school class in Yorkín since 2010. The older generation attributes this to the influx of technology, which is slowly infiltrating most homes in the community. Many people say the younger generation is more interested in discovering the outside world they can find on their phone rather than learning about their own culture that now faces an uncertain future.

“How do I say lemon in Bribri language?” ask Andy, 9, and his cousin Sergio, 11, of their grandmother, Marina López. They’re playing among cocoa trees in their grandmother’s field in Watsi, a village in southern Costa Rica’s Caribbean region, where their Indigenous Bribri community maintains its ancestral traditions. “Àsh means lemon in Bribri,” Marina tells her grandsons, “Don’t confuse it with another citrus such as àsh blòblo [orange].” Unexpectedly, rain starts to fall and makes the tropical vegetation shine. The trio find shelter under a roof close to palms and timber-yielding trees that give shade to cocoa and medicinal plants. The community here practices a resilient and ancient agricultural system called agroforestry that also benefits biodiversity and climate change, since perennial and annual crops are grown together to mimic a forest. In Costa Rica’s Talamanca region, Indigenous Bribri women are championing sustainable agroforestry practices in a tradition that stretches back for millennia. Known as fincas integrales, it’s a system that mimics the diversity and productivity of the forest: timber trees provide shade for fruit trees, which in turn shelter medicinal plants, amid all of which livestock and even wildlife thrive. One of the few matrilineal societies in the world, the Bribri women are taking back their leadership after decades of decline and social problems in the community. Talamanca is also home to vast monoculture plantations of crops like bananas, a completely different farming system that relies on the heavy use of pesticides — a practice that the Bribri women say destroys the land.

The Bribri are Costa Rica's largest indigenous group, though census studies estimate that only 10,000-35,000 Bribri remain. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in their wealth of culture: they live mostly without Western influences and have therefore retained many of their ancient traditions. The word "Bribri" has six distinct meanings: the tribe, the culture, the region, the language, the municipality and the reserve. Today, we were set to see all six -- traveling first to a local Bribri artisan family, then to the Bribri Reserve, followed by a medicinal plants tour, lunch and a stop at the Chocolate House, which, if rumor had it, was home to some of the best chocolate in Costa Rica. Piling into the tour van, we headed out to the Family Art gallery, owned by a Bribri woman, her Costa Rican husband and their young daughter. The couple make their living by using forest waste -- nuts, discarded seeds and fallen trees -- to create necklaces, earrings, paintings and traditional masks. After a brief visit, we were off to visit the Bribri Indigenous Reserve. Before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Costa Rica, the Bribri, as well as several other indigenous groups, lived off of the cocoa plant. It was considered a spiritual fruit and was used in many of the tribe's most sacred rituals. In the 1800's, the United Fruit Company arrived and began to take the Bribri's land. A brave cacique, or tribal leader, fought them off, stopping them at what is now the entrance to the reserve. For more than 100 years, the reserve, which is autonomous of the Costa Rican government, remained closed to outsiders. In the 1970's, interest in rural and ecotourism coaxed the reserve into opening its gates.

Like many indigenous races across the world, the Bribri people have become disenfranchised because of the spread of colonialism. Spanish and other Western immigrants treated them like primitive natives and they were denied the same rights as other residents of Costa Rica. That created a spiral of poverty and despair. “20 years ago the community was moving to different areas because in this area they have no jobs, no nothing,” local indigenous man, Cesar Selles, tells me. “So most of the people move away from the Aboriginal reserve and they work in the cities. We don’t like cities, the noise of the cities is completely different and we can feel freedom on these fields that is not the same freedom I felt when I lived in San Jose.” 

The Bribri are an Indigenous people of Costa Rica, in the Talamanca region (or cantón), in the Limón province. The Bribri people have an estimated population of 16,938 inhabitants, according to the 2013 census results on Indigenous territories. Their population is settled on both sides of the Talamanca mountain range ('cordillera de Talamanca'). On the Caribbean side, they are in the Talamanca Bribri and Cocles or Kekoldi territories (in the Talamanca cantón); and on the Pacific side, they are in the Salitre and Cabagra territories (in the cantón of Buenos Aires). The Bribri people's ancestors would have inhabited the Central Valley of San José. As the Spaniards arrived, the Indigenous population was displaced. Since the approval of the Indigenous Law of 1977, which recognizes indigenous peoples as owners of the lands they inhabit, the Bribri have been struggling to recover their territories, which were dispossessed by colonial landowners ('terratenientes'). The meaning of the word 'Bribri' is 'valiente,' which can be translated as brave, courageous, or valiant in English. Cabecar is another Talamanca tribe of the Chibchan language family, which was closely related to the Bribri. Both the Bribri tribe and the Cabecar tribe used to be a single political entity, and the Spanish colonizers considered them that way. According to Bribri's cosmology, Sibú (or Sibo) established the limits for the Bribri and the Cabecar to use the natural resources. However, both tribes drifted apart some 300 years ago due to geographical limitations, besides linguistic variations. Accounts from Spanish explorers in the 1500s note the importance of agriculture for the Talamancan and neighboring societies. Juan Vasquez de Coronado, the conquistador of Costa Rica, described an area slightly southwest of Talamanca that had an abundance of agricultural products. This area would coincide today with part of the Bribri territory.

The Bribri are an indigenous people of Costa Rica who mainly reside in the mountains along the Caribbean Coast in the Talamanca section of the country. As their land is along the border of neighbouring Panama, some Bribri people can be found there too. Mostly they live off their land, growing banana, plantain, yuca, corn and of course, a staple in the Bribri diet – cacao. They maintain a wholly sustainable, natural way of living that is largely isolated from the rest of the country, mostly to maintain and preserve their indigenous culture. There is a huge focus on natural medicinal herbal knowledge that is also a key factor to the sustained rainforest society. Rising early in the Caribbean had already become a habit of mine but on this particular morning with the heaviest showers I had seen in Puerto Viejo, it made the day ahead seem even more adventurous. There might not have been a more appropriate or authentic way to experience a rainforest than this, each tree drenched in rain, the light of day mystically appearing then disappearing behind clouds. Winding up the long roads through the hills and into the community, it seemed as though the cleansing rain was preparing for something truly special, sacred even. When we arrived the scent of cacao was strong and mixed in with the damp rainforest scents. Wendy, who we’ll later learn is one of the most respected cooks, guardians and mothers in the village, granted us permission to enter and get out of the rain. She greeted us in Bribri and began to demonstrate the process of making chocolate, from bean to bar. 

The Bribri are the largest indigenous population in Costa Rica. Around 10,000 Bribri reside in the mountains of the Talamanca region, and a smaller population live in Bocas del Toro, Panama as well. The Bribri are one of the communities Outward Bound Costa Rica serves on our service learning expeditions, including our Costa Rica & Panama Service Challenge and Venture and Volunteer Girl Scout Destinations, as well as on our Service Adventure-based Group Program. The Bribri live in communities that are very isolated from the rest of Costa Rica’s population, deep in the heart of the rainforest. Their own rich culture and traditions have lasted for thousands of years, passed down through generations orally. Though the Bribri have their own language, many are bilingual and speak Spanish as well. Bribri settlements are located in some of the most remote areas of the country, and many villages are only accessible by river. Their towns often include community buildings, schools, and conical houses as spiritual centers. Some buildings have running water and limited electricity, but generally Bribris live in rustic houses on stilts isolated from one another. Independence is a central value to the Bribri people, and they have a great desire to uphold their own traditions and way of life while resisting harmful development to the environment. Over time, they have had several struggles maintaining their lands and defending it from industry and large corporations. Industry has already affected their land and their people by way of plantations and factories, contaminating their land and water supply. Their religion is strongly tied to the environment and their duty to protect and conserve it. Their beliefs involve an intricate mythology involving the spirits of nature and their creator, Sibö. Bribri society is built upon a matrilineal clan system, meaning roles are determined through the mother’s family. That being said, women have somewhat of a high status in Bribri culture. While men and women often work the same jobs, some roles are specific. For example, typically only women tend to livestock and only women can prepare the sacred cacao drink used for special occasions, whereas only men can be an “awa” (shaman) to conduct healing and spiritual practices. Men often found work outside of their villages in large commercial plantations, but they have suffered health risks from the harsh conditions and pesticides. In recent years, Bribri women have explored other venues for income so that the men don’t have to leave to find work elsewhere. Bribri sell and trade their crops, but women have taken initiatives to set up ecotourism, organic farming, craft making, and even iguana farming to help support the community.

The Bribri tribe is located in Costa Rica and parts of Panama. They are commonly called “the hidden people” because they live in isolation. Living in isolation from the rest of the world permits the tribe to maintain their language, traditions and culture. Approximately 5,200 people make up the Bribri Tribe. The tribe is known for living off of the land. They have over 120 domesticated crops and use plants for food and medicinal purposes. If you enjoy being outside or are eager to get away from the modern world, visiting the Bribri tribe may be the right vacation for you. Their land painted in exotic plants, wooded huts, and thriving streams will not disappoint you. The Bribri tribe has been around for thousands of years. Because of their isolated lifestyle, they have been able to maintain their original language and culture. Although this isolation enables the tribe to keep their traditions, it also can cause problems, such as create a lack of education. Even though the tribe may not be well-educated, they take great pride in their spirituality. The tribe typically has a “shaman,” also known as a medicine man. The shaman is trained at the age of eight, and is constantly being schooled for the next 10 or 15 years in order to gain knowledge about medicinal practices. The tribe lives off of the land, so they have an abundance of plants to use for medicinal purposes. They believe that evil spirits are the cause of bringing on any medical misfortune. They use the plants to cure headaches, lower fevers, and prevent diseases. These plants can be infused in teas or eaten. The shaman is typically a male, but on rare occasions, a female may hold this position. Shamans are usually selected by a spiritual experience that happens to a certain individual. This spiritual experience is said shed light upon that individual, making them the “chosen one.” The Bribri tribe is made up of clans (each clan is a group of extended family). Clans are “matrilineal,” meaning that the group you belong to is determined by the clan your mother is in. These clans speak a mixture of Spanish and their own original language. Living in isolation has maintained the existence of the “Bribri language.”

The Bribri are an indigenous people of Costa Rica. They live in the Talamanca Canton in Limon Province of Costa Rica. That is about 35 minutes away from teh Goddess Garden. They speak the Bribri language and Spanish. There are varying estimates of the population of the tribe. The Bribri were the autochthonous people of the Talamanca region, living in the mountains and Caribbean coastal areas of Costa Rica and northern Panama. The majority live with running water and a scarce amount of electricity, growing cacao, bananas, and plantain to sell as well as beans, rice, corn, and a variety of produce for their own consumption. Studies have shown that as a symbol of wealth and prosperity, it is tradition to draw on the outer wall of ones home. As it is difficult to find a visual reference of the symbol in modern day, these are just a close approximation of ones recorded by a team led by Dr. Raphael Mikheel Puusa and Dr. Karima Pajamoes during their 1857 expedition. Many Bribri are isolated and have their own language. This has allowed them to maintain their indigenous culture, although it has also resulted in less access to education and health care. Although the group has the lowest income per capita in the country, they are able to raise much of their own produce, medicine, and housing materials, and earn cash to purchase what they can’t grow themselves through tourism and by selling cacao, bananas, and plantain. The Bribri social structure is organized in clans. Each clan is composed of an extended family. The clan system is matrilineal; that is, a child’s clan is determined by the clan his or her mother belongs to. This gives women a very important place in Bribri society since they are the only ones that can inherit land and prepare the sacred cacao (Theobroma cacao) drink that is essential for their rituals. Men’s roles are defined by their clan, and often are exclusive for men. Examples of these roles are the “awa” or shaman, and the “oko”, the only person allowed to touch the remains of the dead, sing funeral songs, and prepare the food eaten at funerals.

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