Indigenous People of Costa Rica

Looking Back In The Present

When touring the indigenous people of Costa Rica it is like taking a step back in time. A time where people eat only what is grown naturally or raised from the earth. A time before doctors went to college to get their Phd’s. A time when an expectant mother bares her child in the wilderness and not in a clean, comfortable hospital where if there was any complication a doctor would be right at her side. Living a traditional way of life, without electricity, running water or other basic things, all of which we take for granted in our modern way of life.

The beliefs of Costa Rica’s indigenous people are carried throughout the generations and have not changed much over the years. One such belief is that cocoa plant is considered a spiritual fruit and is used in many of the tribe’s most sacred rituals, many of which are still carried out today. Another belief is through the use of plants that grow from the earth to prevent sickness rather than to treat it. They use many of the natural plants to boost their immune systems, improve main organs and clean the blood. Many of the indigenous people live well over 100 years.

Costa Rica’s indigenous people make and sell jewelry and other items that they make from seeds, nuts and other things that we might see as forest waste. They use fallen trees to create their traditional masks, each one hand carved without power tools that modern civilization uses on an assembly line giving each mask its’ distinctive qualities.

There are eight different tribes that live on secluded reservations throughout Costa Rica. Each village has its own unique features. Maybe you might be able to walk across a true hanging bridge, the type that we see in adventure movies that require you to walk across them with your knees bent so as to keep your balance.

Costa Rica Indigenous People

Names & Locations

• Boruca (Southern Costa Rica)
• Bribri (Southern Caribbean)
• Cabécar (Cordillera de Talamanca)
• Guaymí (Southern Costa Rica, along the Panamá border)
• Maleku (Northern Alajuela)
• Matambú or Chorotega (Guanacaste)
• Quitirrisí (In the Central Valley)
• Térraba (Southern Costa Rica)

This tour is extremely educational for both, the young and old. Enjoy a guided tour of how Costa Rica’s indigenous people lived many centuries ago and are still living the traditional way today. This is not something that you can get from text books; you have to experience this tour yourself!