Indigenous Communities that participate
We are currently 8 indigenous communities in more than 20 territories nation wide, with a total of 250 indigenous artisans and cratfwomen.
Brunka village
Boruca | Rey Curré
The Brunka community is represented by the Boruca and Rey Curré territories. We are best known for colorful cotton textiles, handcrafted on a backstrap loom, and for our masks made from a single piece of balsa wood. These are used during the end of the year celebrations called "The Dance of the Devils". We lost the daily use of our language, but in schools we recently started teaching it again.
It is located in the province of Puntarenas, specifically in Buenos Aires and Osa.
Products
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Bags and purses made with cotton fabric sown by them, from which they take the threads through the backstrap loom
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Gourds
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Traditional devils game masks
Bröran village
| Terraba
The Brörán community lives in the territory of Térraba. We are neighbors of the Brunka, in the south of the country, near Buenos Aires. We make jewelry: necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Everything is made by hand with natural materials: seeds, stones, pieces of wood. We also carve and color the gourd. It is the fruit of the jícaro tree. We know our language and we are organizing ourselves to use it more often.
It is located in the province of Puntarenas, specifically in Buenos Aires.
Products
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Accessories made of coconut, jícaro and wood
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Ornaments, costume jewelery made of beads and seeds
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Dream Catcher
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Wood engravings
Huétar town
Quitirrisí | Zapatón
The Huétar community lives in the territories of Quitirrisí and Zapatón. In Chietón Morén we are present with a dozen artisans from Quitirrisí. We make baskets, kitchen utensils and decorations from palm leaves and liana bush. We are the closest to San José of all the groups. At one point we were the largest community in the country, today we are only a few thousand.
It is located in the province of San José, specifically in Mora and Puriscal.
Products
Woven squares with floral and animal motifs with mastate
Baskets woven with liana
Wallets
Basketwork made with stococa palms
Jewelry made from woven palm
Clay pieces: ocarinas, representations of fauna, pots and ceremonial incense burners
Hats
Natural dyes
Bribri village
Cabagra | Kéköldi | Saltpeter | Talamanca Bribri | Watsi | Kashabri
The Bribríes live on both sides of the central mountainous area, in the south of the country, near the border with Panama. We speak our own language and we are present in the Chietón Morén project with artisans from the towns of Watsi and Kashabri and the Salitre territory. We make jewelry and handicrafts with jícaro fruit and coconut shell. If you want to learn our language there is a textbook in Chietón Morén.
It is located in the the province of Puntarenas (Salitre and Cabagra) and in Limón, along the Talamanca mountain range.
Products
Imitation jewelry
Bags made with cabuya and pita
Basketry
Instruments such as maracas with gourds
Textiles
Chorotega Town
San Vicente de Nicoya | The Posas | Matambú
We live in the town of San Vicente on the Nicoya peninsula, where our ecomuseum is located, and in the territory of Matambú. All together we are a small community in Costa Rica, but there are many Chorotegas in Nicaragua and in Chiapas, Mexico. We are well known for our pottery made with local materials and dyes, a tradition that dates back long before Spanish colonization.
It is located in the province of Guanacaste, specifically in Hojancha and Nicoya.
Products
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Clay crafts such as ceramics.
Ngöbe village
Alto Rey (Abrojos-Montezuma) | Alto de San Antonio | Coto Brus | Conte Burica (Punta Burica)
We live in the communities of Conte Burica, Abrojos, Alto Río Claro, Altamira, Progreso, Alto San Antonio and Casona, all of them in the southern Pacific of Costa Rica, near the border with Panama. Many of our people live in the north of Panama, where they have the name of Ngöbe-Buglé. We speak our own language and our women wear traditional dresses. We make hats and farms. They are bags made of pita or burillo, a very old tradition.
It is located in the province of Puntarenas, specifically in Buenos Aires, Coto Brus, Corredores, Golfito, Punta Burica and Osa: it borders the Corcovado National Park.
Products
Crafts with symbols related to the iguana and the snake
Mastates with animal motifs
Rag dolls called "Mamitas"
Dolls of different animals
Textiles as clothing
Cabécar town
Bajo Chirripó | China Kichá | Chirripó | Nairir Awari | Talamanca Cabécar | Tayni | Telie | Ujarrás | The Palm
We live in extensive areas of Talamanca, a mountainous region in the Atlantic part of the country, and in Buenos Aires of Puntarenas. In Chietón Morén we are represented by the women of the Palmero town of Bajo Chirripó, the group of artisans from Ujarrás and artisans from Talamanca Cabécar. We speak our own language and teach it at the new school. We make crafts with mastate which is the bark of the mastate tree, we also use cabuya fiber, wicker and wood.
It is located on the banks of the Chirripó river, the Talamanca mountain range and in Ujarrás de Buenos Aires.
Products
Woven squares with floral and animal motifs with mastate
Animal figures that serve as both ornament and toy
Wooden and mastate mobiles
Maleku village
Palenque The Sun | Daisy | Tonjibe
We live in the northern lowlands, near Guatuso, in three villages that we call "palenques": El Sol, Margarita and Tonjibe. When you are in the Arenal area, it is not that difficult to find us. We are a small group, only a few of us still know our language, but we teach it again to our children. We carve and paint jícaros of all sizes, make balsa wood drums, and make "rain sticks," bamboo sticks that sound like rain when swayed.
It is located in the province of Alajuela, specifically in San Rafael de Guatuso.
Products
Ornaments made and carved in jícaros
Wallets and purses made with jícaros
Hammocks made with cabuya and wicker
Instruments such as raft drums and iguana skin
Maracas
Rain sticks