Boruca

Boruca is the main village of the Brunca people in the southern hills, and it is known for two connected things. Masks are carved from balsa and cedar and painted with animals, faces and forest motifs, sold from workshops through the village and now the community's main income. The Fiesta de los Diablitos, held from 30 December to 2 January, is a three-day enactment in which masked men playing the diablitos, the little devils, are pursued by a figure in a bull mask representing the Spanish; the devils are knocked down, revive, and eventually kill the bull, in a re-enactment of resistance to the conquest that has been performed for generations.

History

The Boruca, or Brunca, are a composite people, made up of those who called themselves Boruca before the Spanish arrived and of neighbours and former rivals such as the Coto, Turrucaca, Borucac, Quepos and Abubaes; the chiefdoms of their ancestors ruled most of Costa Rica's Pacific coast, from Quepos to today's border with Panama, including the Osa Peninsula. Their Danza de los Diablitos has been held every winter since at least colonial times. The General Law of Common Lands of 1939 made these lands the inalienable property of their indigenous people, the Boruca-Térraba reserve of 1956 was among the first in Costa Rica, and the Indigenous Law of 1977 made the reserves self-governing (Wikipedia, Boruca).

Highlights

• The mask workshops - the carving and painting sold through the village.
• The Fiesta de los Diablitos - the three-day masked enactment at new year.
• The village - the Brunca settlement in the southern hills.
• Weaving - the natural-dye cotton work also made here.

When to go

30 December to 2 January for the Diablitos, which is when the village fills and the masks are used rather than sold; December to April otherwise for the roads and the workshops.

What to expect

The festival is a community event, not a performance for visitors, and behaviour and photography should follow that; drinking is heavy over the three days. The access road up is rough. Facilities are minimal. Masks sold elsewhere are often not made here.

Nearby

Buenos Aires lies north; the Terraba river runs below.

Key facts