Boruca Natural Colors – Photo by Dagmar Reinhard
The murex snail provides a milky fluid that all Indian women, from the Boruca community in the Brunca Region in the South Pacific of Costa Rica use in the dyeing of their cotton yarn in purple, which will be used for the waving of their beautiful products.
During the waning moon, the Borucas visit the rockiest beaches of Costa Ballena, knowing they will find the murex snails hiding and mating along the reefs.
Doña Marina gently peels off a snail from the slippery rocks, after that she softly blows through it, allowing it to release the yellow liquid, which falls on in her other hand over the yarn she is holding. When this milky liquid gets in contact with the air, it oxidizes and changes color to a light green, and then to a purple. It cannot be stored; they have to dye the yarn at the beach. No damage is done to the snail; Doña Marina returns the shell to the rock where she found it.
This is a 400-years tradition, and even though it is a hard and dangerous job; they carry it out, as they are economically dependent on this activity in order to develop their colorful crafts.
You can find Doña Marina and her friends at the Feria del Rincon, on Saturday morning, in Uvita – Costa Ballena, where she will gladly explain the process of dyeing and weaving
