Photos by Costa Rican Arauz Show a Cultural Redefinition of this Indigenous Population.

As was brought to light by Costa Rican photographer Ileana Arauz in her photography thesis project at the University Veritas, the Guaymi indigenous population is going through a period of cultural transition. Arauz, who traveled to the southern region of the country to verify if her thesis that the indigenous ethnic group the Guaymi still fought for the preservation of its roots, found a very different realty.

Upon arriving at her destination, after a 5 hour hike through a mountain and over neck-deep rivers, she found that she had to change the theme of her research project. “After walking for five hours in the mountain, crossing rivers with water up to my neck, I arrived at a building where they were all watching a [National Team] football game,” the photographer said.

“We can affirm that these communities are going a cultural re-defining process. That is to say, their traditions co-exist with other practices derived from other cultures.”

The name of this group, in their own language, is Ngöbes, and they are currently living in five different territories in the southern part of the country, including: Coto Brus, Abrojos Montezuma, Altos de San Antonio, Conte Burica and Alto Laguna, in the cantons of Coto Brus, Corredores and Osa.

According to Arauz, there are certain areas where this outside influence is quite apparent, with brand consumption by the younger generations, family life, clothing and the commercialization of their products being the main four.

She certainly did not expect to find televisions, radios and cellular phones up there, where the signal is usually very poor. Very few houses have electricity or drinking water, so they have installed solar panels on the roofs to obtain energy, and although most houses still only have some kind of campfire for cooking, the energy from the solar panels is used for domestic appliances and TVs so they don’t have to miss a football game! Indeed many wear the shirts of the team that they support.

Young women prefer to use modern clothes when leaving the villages, to fit in with the modern world. They even switch to Spanish as soon as they leave the communities instead of their tribal language.

While at home the old customs seem to have a better chance of survival, it seems inevitable that the younger generation would want to adapt to the modern world. When they are at home, members of the family speak to each other in their own language, the Ngöbe, but the children mix their language with Spanish and even sometimes English words.

The photographer expressed her belief that the proximity of the community to the border of Panama has a great influence on the way they live, and the changes that occur within this group of people. They are in the middle of heavy traffic and the passage of many tourists. One community near Corcovado is rapidly becoming a transit point for the tourists, she says. Now they go there to sell their craftwork, and to get paid in dollars.

Arauz is now the first graduate of the only degree in photography that exists in Costa Rica.

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Filed under: Cultural Events on July 22nd, 2008