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The Cabécar Tribe's History and Legacy

Indulge in the rich history of the still lively tribe of the Cabécar and, hopefully, get a different perspective and understanding of how the new world exploration really happened!

Alvarado, Ivannia . Por Distintas Latitudes. August 16, 2021. https://distintaslatitudes.net/destacado/indigenas-cabecar-vuelven-a-lo-ancestral-con-tecnologia.

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The Cabécar are Costa Rica’s most lively and active indigenous group, yet they are overlooked because of their isolation from advanced civilization. This community of people live in the  Talamanca Cabecar Indigenous Reserve, in the Limon province, with a population of around 17,000.¹ They have been living in this area way before the Spanish came and “conquered” the land as an independent tribe, living their own lifestyle. The Cabécar tribe is a powerful indigenous tribe along with the Bribri and Boruca, but only the Cabécar were able to negotiate peace with the Spanish between 1502 and 1565.² This tribe deserves recognition because they have managed to survive on their own in a very isolated part of Costa Rica, where there are limited resource and opportunities.³ They are the largest indigenous tribe in Costa Rica and have been referred to as the “Invisible tribe” because no one talks about them. This tribe has accomplished so much that it surprises me that I had never heard of them before. The Cabécar were and still are running their own political system, economy, food sources, and religion. The Cabécar aspire to be their own community and to be an independent society. Their rejection of modernized tools, technology, and living shows that they want to advance in their own ways, rather than inherit other’s.

Cavalli, Lisa. “A Look at the Major Indigenous Cultures of 13 Latino Countries.” BELatina, March 24, 2019. https://belatina.com/indigenous-cultures-latino-countries/.

www.encyclopedia.com. “Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar | Encyclopedia.com,” n.d. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/boruca-bribri-and-cabecar.

Rise in Resiliency. “Cabecar Indigenous Community in Costa Rica,” n.d. https://riseinresiliency.org/our-projects-indigenous.

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Sergio: Brice Gonzalez--> https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/brice-gonzalez-150054.php#:~:text=Brice%20Gonzalez%20is%20an%20actor%20and%20social%20media,has%20garnered%20a%20substantial%20following%20of%2016%20million.

Grandmother: Sônia Braga--> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000968/bio/

Great, Great, Great grandfather: Anthony Ramos--> https://www.biography.com/actors/a44131012/anthony-ramos

Sergio Dererri, A 12 year old boy, lives to make his family and heritage proud as one of the most recent descendants of the Cabécar tribe in Costa Rica. Sergio particularly take pride in his advanced soccer or Fùtball skills because as a young child he would listen to the Costa Rica national team games on the radio. This radio was at his grandmother's house, who at the time was a tribal elder and she would always tell Sergio stories of their great ancestry. When Sergio was younger the stories always revolved around her grandparents and how they avoided the Spanish Conquistadors, but also worked within their new “laws”.

Sergio is at his grandmother’s wooden hut, covered in straw for the roof and wooden planked walls¹, listening to the Costa Rica National soccer game on her radio. Costa Rica is beating 2-1 against Panama

Grandmother: “Sergio, come here”

Sergio: “Yes, grandmother”

Sergio runs over from the radio and sits on his grandmothers knee, she holds his back and Sergio waits for the story to start:

“I have a story for you. Now that you are older I can finally tell you about our ancestry. My great grandfather, so your great, great, great, grandfather was one of the leaders of our tribe. He helped build this beautiful place we call home.”

“I know this grandmother, my Mom told me years ago”

‘Yes, but I'm sure she didn’t tell you how he kept our tribe isolated and powerful during the invasion?”

“ No, she didn’t. Tell me grandma”

Cuts to the flashback of the great, great, great grandfather on his trade route

“Alright fine. Our tribe used to be a powerful tribe. We ruled these Talamanca mountains², we lived in peace with the Boruca  and Bribri tribes. We had trade routes through the mountain passage ways, ensuring that all life around us thrived off our successful economy. But your grandfather was a large part in the survival of our tribe. He was a warrior and merchant. Your grandfather traded every day on these routes and brought our beautiful weapons, pottery, and food to the nearby tribes, using a wooden wagon that he made himself³. He would always come home telling his children how his daily adventures were and that's how your hearing about this now. Although, one day, in 1502, your father was doing his normal trades on his normal route. It was just before sunset and your grandfather was only left with a carefully crafted bow that was strung from our strong straw⁴. Then he heard loud shouting in the distance. It wasn't in our Chibchan language⁵. He said it sounded like aggressive thrashing of words that he couldn’t comprehend. This noise began to get closer and louder, so your grandfather hid in the thick brush, leaving behind the wooden wagon. Then the men appeared. They wore black velvet suits, were riding horseback, swords at their sides, and had lots of re-enforcements. Your grandfather, beyond frightened, sprinted back to the village to warn them of the possible dangers.”

Episode ends with Sergio’s great, great, great grandfather sprinting back to the village, trying to warn the others

www.everyculture.com. “History and Cultural Relations - Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar,” n.d. https://www.everyculture.com/Middle-America-Caribbean/Boruca-Bribri-and-Cab-car-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html.

Tellier, Glenn. “Introduction to the Indigenous Tribes of Costa Rica.” CRIE, July 12, 2023. https://crie.cr/indigenous-tribes-of-costa-rica/.

www.encyclopedia.com. “Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar | Encyclopedia.com,” n.d. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/boruca-bribri-and-cabecar.

Font, Alberto. “San José Cabécar: A Hidden Indigenous Treasure in Costa Rica.” The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate, July 19, 2014. https://ticotimes.net/2014/07/19/photos-a-visit-to-a-costa-rican-cabecar-indigenous-community.

“Cabécar (Costa Rica) - MiDi Bible,” January 1, 2016. https://midibible.org/en/publishing/america/cabecar/.

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Jsinglador.  Beautiful Facade of the Church Was Known for Its Relief Sculpture of St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child amidst Coconut, Papaya and Guava Shrubs. Located at Miag-Ao, Iloilo. August 11, 2011. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baroque-Romanesque_Style_Miag-ao_Church.jpg.

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Cuts back in from previous episode and shows small clips of the important scenes like, the grandfather walking on the trade routes, finding the Spanish conquistadors, and running back to the village. Then the camera cuts to Sergio sitting on his grandmother’s knee looking up at her, waiting for her to continue the story.

Grandmother: “Your grandfather, Sergio, warned the village and told them to ready for their presence. The chiefdoms didn’t believe him and thought he was crazy. They had never heard of any type of foreigners like that, so their first instinct was to not believe your grandfather. Then they village heard their voices through the forest. Everyone ran to their huts to hide and the warriors armed themselves to protect the village. Suddenly, hundreds of soldiers appeared through the woods, the leaders on horseback. Everyone was in shock, they felt trapped. Then the Spanish Conquistadors began to order our people to leave the village and accept their own morals. If we wanted to live in peace and remain a tribe we had to abide by their wants, to an extent because they were so powerful. They all resisted, telling the Spanish that the Cabécar were not servants. We tried our best to maintain the Cabécar traditions, but some of the Spanish resources were helpful, specifically their tools and herd animals⁶. Other things like Catholicism, political structure, and settlement patterns were forced upon us, minimalizing our true identities. After about fifty years of resilience and fighting for our independence from the Spanish, our ancestors were forced into colonial social units, breaking apart our tribe’s community⁷. By this time the Boruca tribe, our allies were destroyed by the Spanish⁸.”

Sergio: “Why did they do this to us grandma?”

“Because we were different than them. Although Sergio, if your great, great, great grandfather hadn’t warned the village about the arrival of Juan Vásquez de Coronado, who knows what our tribe would look like today⁹. We could have disappeared, but his instincts possibly saved the future of our tribe. After the Boruca were destroyed, the chiefdoms and your grandfather decided that if they wanted to survive they had to at least act like they were part of the Spanish government. So they worked with the Spanish government and concluded that we would have our independence, but had to live by some Spanish morals, like religion and laws¹⁰. Our leaders were allowed to maintain the matrilineal clan system we had originally, but we had to implement the Catholic lifestyle. For instance, you see that painting over by the dining table?”

Points to a painting of the last supper, that is hung over the dining table. Sergio turns his head and looks at the painting.

Sergio: “Yes, what about it?”

“The Spanish required us to have at least one religious picture in the household, so that we can maintain the Catholic religion¹¹. That is why most of our community now is Catholic, and why we pray before each meal, Fùtball game, and community event¹². We worked within the Spanish government’s guidelines, so that our tribe could have a future. Now our tribe is lively and we have maintained our traditions, except we added Catholicism to our community. Look around our village today and think about how different it could be if we had never been colonized."

“Okay grandma, that story wasn’t your best. I liked the ones about animals more.”

‘I know Sergio, but it's important that you know our history, considering we are the largest living tribe in Costa Rica¹³.”

Episode ends with the camera zooming in on Grandmother’s face as she looks down at Sergio in admiration, as she says the last few words on her excerpt.

www.everyculture.com. “History and Cultural Relations - Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar,” n.d. https://www.everyculture.com/Middle-America-Caribbean/Boruca-Bribri-and-Cab-car-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html.

www.encyclopedia.com. “Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar | Encyclopedia.com,” n.d. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/boruca-bribri-and-cabecar.

Rise in Resiliency. “Cabecar Indigenous Community in Costa Rica,” n.d. https://riseinresiliency.org/our-projects-indigenous.

Cavalli, Lisa. “A Look at the Major Indigenous Cultures of 13 Latino Countries.” BELatina, March 24, 2019. https://belatina.com/indigenous-cultures-latino-countries/.

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Priest: Esai Morales--> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005246/bio/

Episode cuts back in with Sergio leaving his grandmother’s house. He has about two hours until his U13 inter-village soccer game. He needs to kill time because he wasn’t hungry and his parents were out working. He starts to think about what his grandmother told him early, as he walks through the center of the village, houses on each side of him. He begins to get to the end of the village and he ends up in front of the catholic chapel, which he was baptized in. He decides to go inside and talk to the priest about how the Cabécar were before the Spanish arrived. He opens the brown wooden door and quietly walks through the benches because some villagers were praying. As he gets to the end of the benches he sees the priest in the back room preparing for tomorrow morning mass. He walks over to the priest and taps his shoulder from behind.

Priest: “Hello Father”

Sergio: "Hello Sergio, how may I help you?”

“I was talking to my grandmother about our tribe’s history before the Spanish came and I wanted to know more about our religion before we entered Catholicism?"

"Oh, yes, why not. Before the Spanish came and our leaders agreed to take on their religion, we didn’t have a set religion. Some of us believed that there was a singular creator, who ruled this land, but most believed that there were many powerful beings, who each had their own role in our environment¹⁴. Then the Spanish came and the treaty between us and them made it so that we followed the Catholic church. That is why we have religious photos everywhere-”

“Thank you that's enough, my grandmother told me this stuff already”

“Oh, okay. Well thanks for stopping by, hope to see you tomorrow!”

Sergio starts leaving the church and heads towards his house to grab his soccer equipment. His family consists of farmers and he lives down the hill from the village center. As he passes his family's farm, the thought of the big city came up. He has always heard of giant metropolises, where hundreds of thousands of people live and work. He has always wanted to visit one. More importantly, he wants to see a Costa Rica soccer game. His village has had few opportunities to leave and go to the outside world because of their isolation in the mountains and lack of modern advancements like cars. This results in the Cabécar having an isolated relationship with their communities and a generally poor economy, education system, and life style¹⁵. Although, the Cabécar tribe in the past has rejected these modernized tools, except for the tools for farming and hunting. Otherwise, they denied themselves access to machinery and modernized technology¹⁶. Sergio enters his house and grabs his soccer equipment that is sitting on the ground next to his bed. He goes toward the edge of his bed, then sits down. He puts his elbows on his knees and lets out a long deep sigh, camera zooming in on Sergio’s face and then cutting out as his sigh comes to an end.

“Cabécar (Costa Rica) - MiDi Bible,” January 1, 2016. https://midibible.org/en/publishing/america/cabecar/.

“Boruca, Bribri, and Cabécar | Encyclopedia.com,” www.encyclopedia.com, n.d., https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/boruca-bribri-and-cabecar.

Tellier, Glenn. “Introduction to the Indigenous Tribes of Costa Rica.” CRIE, July 12, 2023. https://crie.cr/indigenous-tribes-of-costa-rica/.

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Nursery Rhyme

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Los pollitos dicen (En Cabécar) - Oshkolo yabalá