Boruca, Ash from Burnt Tree

Boruca - Devils Festival 2013 - Costa Rica - Photos by Matthew Kirsch

Boruca – Devils Festival 2013 – Costa Rica – Photos by Matthew Kirsch

An hour from Palmar, following the course of the majestic Térraba River, is the entrance to the village of Boruca. The road winds uphill, leaving the view completely free over the river and the ridges in the far distance. Approximately 2,000 indigenous people live in the reserve (an area of about 138 km2), which extends into the Talamanca mountains. During the colonization, their ancestors remained isolated in the mountains, which helped to preserve their culture. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Boruca ruled the South Pacific coast from Quepos to the border of Panama, including the Osa Peninsula.

 

 

Boruca - Devils Festival 2013 - Costa Rica - Photos by Matthew Kirsch

Boruca – Devils Festival 2013 – Costa Rica – Photos by Matthew Kirsch

The Boruca are known for their handicrafts, especially textiles and beautifully carved and painted balsa wood mask. The masks are an important element in the Little Devil Dance, an event that is celebrated every New Year since colonial times. The dance represents the resistance of the indigenous people (little devils) against the Spanish conquerors (the bull).

Although Spanish is the common language, children learn Boruca or Brunka, a language of the Chibchan family at the village school. Daily life reflects a community capable of self-sufficiency in agriculture, complemented by craftsmanship and ethno tourism.

The reservation is located 20 km south of Buenos Aires in the canton of Buenos Aires in the province of Puntarenas and about 25 km east of Palmar in the South Pacific of Costa Rica.

 

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