Costa Rica

The Bri-Bri tribe has lived for many centuries in the Talamanca Cordillera (the country’s highest) and has managed to preserve its vernacular language, customs and traditions. The tribe is practically the only native one remaining which still maintains its own identity in Costa Rica (however, it is fully integrated into national life in all its aspects) and as such has been given special attention by the State, particularly as regards health and education and the protection of its native values. Indeed in that part of the country there is a cultural radio station which broadcasts programs in the Bri-Bri language. There is also a newspaper written exclusively in Bri-Bri- It is interesting to observe the traditional folk ceremonies of the Bri-Bri tribe, especially those performed within their religious and cultural context and which have been preserved by them for many hundreds of years. Through  its cultural and linguistic bodies the University of Costa Rica has prepared a grammar book and a spelling book of the Bri-Bri language which have been invaluable tools in the training of people to collaborate with the Bri-Bri tribe.

The Costa Rica people love the extraordinarily beautiful nature of their country. Thus we have that almost inevitable special mixture spirit, material and Creole culture which we call craftsmanship and which shows its wide range of nuances and national features ranging from the reproduction of pre-Colombian objects to modern personal objects or simply decorative ones, including the traditional oxcart which put Costa Rica on the road to progress.

And it is here where we can most easily show the innate skill of the tico in offering with simplicity his love for art and the healthy pride of being Costa Rican. As a complement to the small craft shops scattered all over the country, there are in the capital places given over the exhibition and sale of craftsmanship. These centers are must on the tourist’s program, and also fulfill the role of providing entertainment for the people of the country.

From the very beginnings of the colony social integration came about to a very marked degree, so that the Costa Rican folk traditions are an indissoluble mixture of other traditions, with a very heavy Spanish accent. Nonetheless there still remain certain native customs and fragments of native culture of great interest, such as the case of the “Festival of the Little Mare” in Nicoya, Guanacaste; or else the “dance of the little devils” of the Bri- Bri tribe. As a remainder of the colonial era and the first century of the Republic’s existence the quadrille dances with dancers dressed in period costume are still performed, especially in the province of Cartago and Heredia.

A great deal of music has been handed down from that era, above all waltzes, pasillos and mazurkas. Nonetheless, it is the province of Guanacaste which makes the greatest contribution to national folk tradition and in fact the so-called “Punto Guanacasteco” ( a very happy and colorful dance) is the most typical product of Costa Rica. With the first strains of the music the tico reacts in an almost automatic way with joy and contagious enthusiasm, never forgetting the typical and traditional “Guipipía”, the cry of the pampa, which is both an invitation to the festivities and challenge to the champion.