Costa Rican Indigenous People: Cultural Identity, Language, and Protectionism
摘要
The aim of this manuscript is to present how best to preserve and protect the cultural identity and language of Indigenous communities from Costa Rica. Cultural identity plays an instrumental role in understanding the need for creating a relationship between theory and practice and contributes to the preservation of cultural traditions. The study presents the Boruca Traditional dance, known in Spanish as “El Baille de los Diablitos,” or the Little Devils Dance. Costa Rican Indigenous people are having their cultural identity compromised by increasing changes to the national culture, politics, and economy, and the travel insecurity that results. This is most strongly expressed in the marginal areas of the country and the people from neighboring countries that have immigrated to Costa Rica. The methodology used in this manuscript is qualitative, an ethnography was designed to describe the experience and narratives of the study, the existing literature about Costa Rica is analyzed, and also narratives to tell the cultural identity, traditions, and folk culture of the Costa Ricans Indigenous communities in the country are described. Interviews with local people have been carried out, and the data contribute to describing and narrating the customs, traditions, and sequence of the traditional cultural activities of the Costa Rican Indigenous peoples. The results show the need to share the knowledge of the customs and traditions of Indigenous communities in Costa Rica with international and domestic tourists to the country. Cultural tourism plays an important role in the preservation of the cultural identity of Indigenous communities in Costa Rica and continuing economic development. The study shows the main aspects required to preserve and protect their cultural identity and language in Costa Rica. These aspects demonstrated the importance of sharing knowledge about the cultural practices, traditions, and customs to keep alive the culture of these communities.