Indigenous Culture in the southern region:

ProVerde Gaia invites you to learn more about the indigenous communities in Costa Ricas’s southern region. In 2008-2009 we approach the Boruca (or Brunca) community, one of the indigenous groups living close by the hotel, together with the indigenous group of Terraba o Terives and the indigenous group of the Guaymi, to define a project in which we achieve through an intercultural exchange, a financial contribution for the Boruca community.

The Borucas are one of the many indigenous groups inhabiting Costa Rica’s southern Pacific region ever since pre-Colombian times. Located in Buenos Aires de Puntarenas, the reserve consists of an area of 12.470 hectares, with a population of around 2.100 persons, divided in two communities, Boruca and Rey Curre. Even though their land was radically minimized by the Spanish colonists, the Borucas where never removed of their own land, unlike the majority of other indigenous groups.

Borucan Identity:

The most significant aspect of Borucan identity is their traditionally crafted handicrafts, their annual celebration of the Little Devils Festival, and their belief in the mythical personage, Cuasran.

With the deterioration of their land – much of it deforested, rough terrain – and a growing population, the production of handicrafts has become the second most important source of family income.

At Hotel Villas Gaia we offer you a small exhibition of the handicrafts, not for sale, but to make known the artisanal work (like the unique Gaia-Boruca placemats at the breakfast tables, the basket and the masks at the Reception, the musical instruments at the RanchoBar) and inspire you to visit the Borucas.

Textiles:

Of all the indigenous groups living in Costa Rica today, only the Borucas continue to produce textiles with traditional techniques and materials.

The textile artisans have been able to recover traditional dyes, and have experimented with new plants and procedures for improved dying and setting of colors. For example the murex snails used for extracting purple coloring are found only on the beaches of Pinuelas (3 km North of Hotel Villas Gaia) and Ventanas (2 km North of the hotel).

Basketwork:

Basketwork is a type of weaving done with vegetable fibers form plants such as bejuco negro, cabuya and pita, whose fibers are used to make baskets, ropes and bags. Nowadays this craft is in danger of extinction due to a shortage of raw material and its loss of significance in Boruca thinking.

The typical Boruca basket is the jaba – as the one exhibited in the hotel Reception – is used for carrying and made with bejuco negro, a vine which grows entangled in mountain canopies; these baskets are made exclusively by man.

Masks:

The Borucas where hardened and courageous Indians who attacked the Spanish on the way, wearing horrific looking masks, nowadays reminded by their dance of the devils, which they celebrate every year between the 31st of December and the 2nd of January. Besides they continue producing their impressive masks, made of balsa wood. The traditional mask is unpainted. The human faces on the masks have grotesque features and are generally horned.

The creativity of Borucan masks artists has expanded with the use of color and new designs including animal motifs, the result of a prevalent ecological trend in today’s market.

Drums, bows and arrows:

Are some of the traditional indigenous objects whose manufacture has been rescued, and which today are considered handicrafts.

The drums are made of balsa wood with both ends covered with cow skin (in the past with deer of peccary skin) Bows and arrows made of pejibaye wood.