BriBri indigenous culture

There are hunting rules for the approximated 70 matriarch structured clans that impede non-sustainable hunting and fishing behaviours. For instance, each clan has one or several animals which is prohibited for them to hunt. Therefore that clan's hunting grounds are natural sanctuaries for those species. There is even one BriBri tribe which is farming iguanas. Once these are fully grown you are exposed to nature and can be hunted by the tribesmen. This approach shows strong parallels with today's handling of fish in rivers and lakes, where this approach was introduced by overfishing.

Their belief is based on the cult to the god SIBÚ, creator and cultural hero and the power of the Awapa or shaman. Sibú is the main divinity, creator of the universe, mankind, of wisdom, of customs and is seen as a cultural hero. Typical traditions are rituals of birth, of puberty and funerary. The "oko", the mortician is, for instance, the only person allowed to touch the remains of the dead, sing funeral songs, and prepare the food eaten at funerals. During the funeral ceremony, the dead body will be carried away in a hammock far away from the house and on a platform exposed to the vultures and the four elements. The vulture king (Sarcoramphus papa) holds an essential place in the Bribri cosmovision. He is the only one that can fly high enough to reach the top of the Universe and thus serves as a link between Sibu and the other worlds. It is believed that while regular vultures, who are his helpers, roost in trees like other birds, the vulture king rises up to sleep with Sibú after eating.

They conceive of the universe as a tremendous conical (cosmic dome) house, the ceiling of that house constituting the sky. It is supported by eight pillars symbolising the animals that helped Sibú construct the Universe. The conical shape is given by Sibú when covering and roofing the great universal house. Imaginarily, this house is prolonged underground in inverted form, where other worlds exist inhabited by other beings. Its conception is then a biconical model, where the universe is conceived as the formation of two opposite cone-shaped houses, and with a common base, one upper and one lower, and each divided into four layers, levels or planets that integrate space and time. The first level represents the ground level the plane we inhabit. On the second level dwell the spirits of plants and animals, and the owners of the rivers, this is where Sibú's helpers live. On the third level of the universe live the spirits who cause disease and suffering and descend periodically to cause grief on earth. The final and highest level of the conical house is where Sibú, accompanied by his helper the king of vultures lives. In this same level live the most malign spirits as well. The Bribri explanation for this is that Sibu keeps them enclosed there like a warden holds the inmates in prison.

Practices impregnated with the subjectivity of each shaman, so they vary from one community to another. The first step for healing is the use of the "siä" which mean fasts and medicines. Regulations and diets according to what illness the human has, are following the first step. BriBri's believe that during the process of curation the spirits eat the body and drink the blood of the sick. This natural healing methods of shamanism already encounter our western world, and more and more people visit them and ask for healing or advice. We believe that this knowledge is worth to share with you. Come, learn and see it!