... Indigenous People ...
by Infocostarica Staff

Costa Rica is one of the most racially homogenous countries in Latin America. When the Spaniards came, they didn't encounter the great native empires that they did in Mexico or in Peru. Instead, they found several tribes that were fragmentary and culturally diverse. Since Costa Rica is a land bridge between North and South America, its tribes displayed traits from either area, and sometimes from both regions. Most Indian groups were ruled by a "cacique", who occasionally governed over various tribes, called "senorios" or lordships. The conquest was facilitated not only by the lack of empires, but also by the lack of gold mines. The Spanish didn't make many strong efforts to colonize the country, and their success was due mostly to the small Indian population and to its further decrease, due to European diseases.

When the colonization finally began (late sixteenth century), the system of slavery and of mistreatment drove many Indians into the mountains, where their descendants still live. Today there are nine thousand Bribri, Cabecar and Boruca Indians living in Talamanca, a mountainous region in the South part of the country. The Chorotega Indians, who had an advanced civilization in the Northern part of the country, were pretty much assimilated racially and culturally; this also means that certain traits of their way of live also influenced the mainstream culture. In total there are eight Indian groups in Costa Rica and twenty two reserves.

On December, 1977, the government passed a law which established the Indian reserves. It gave the natives the right to stay in self-governed communities, but at the same time the government withheld the land titles. There have been some instances when the government has allowed groups to enter the reserve and even to exploit the land (mining, for example). However, the persecution of Indians isn't as marked as it is in Guatemala, for example, where Indians represent a more serious political and economic threat to the government.

There are some organizations that look after the wellbeing of the natives. The CONAI is the official institution for handling Indian affairs, but it's fragmented and not very efficient. Sejekto is a group in San Jose that handles complaints and that's become the voice for many people that were disillusioned with the official organization. The efforts of many Indian activists paid off when in 1994, the first indigenous bank was established in the Talamanca region with the financial help of the Interamerican Development Bank. This was extremely necessary, since many Indian farmers and entrepreneurs couldn't acquire credit from other institutions.

Apart from financial and political limitations, part of the Indian population on reserves suffers great social problems. Alcoholism and more recently, drug-use, have become another predicament for these groups. Hogar Crea, which is an international organization for the treatment of drug-users is establishing a two-year rehabilitation program in Chiroles, in a primarily Indian region. This will be the first program of its kind in Latin America that's dedicated especially to the Indian population.

Even though the overall picture doesn't look too bright for the Indian population of the country, there have been several improvements in the recent years that promise to defend the rights of the indigenous people. Also, although only 1% of the country's population is considered of aboriginal blood, most Costa Ricans are a mixture of European, Indian and Black blood. The lack of evidence of Indian culture in Costa Rica isn't a simple matter, either. There are several cultural traits like food, music, dance and religion, which influenced and penetrated the mainstream culture; thus, Indian culture lives on, maybe not in its purest form, but certainly in a diluted version of it. Furthermore, some Indian groups like the Bribris have insisted in preserving their culture and in teaching their native language and customs alongside with the official educational program.