Traveling deep into the back country of Costa Rica we arrive at Palmar Norte, our stop for lunch.
As our driver speaks no English, I ask him in my shaky Spanish if he wants to continue driving my friends Katie and Roberto and I further into the mountains to the Boruca indigenous village. I tell him, if so, he must do his tarea and find out how to get there. He asks around and we are off.
After climbing up red dirt roads over steep hills, the jungle drops away and the road crests a narrow ridge up to the sky. The land drops away on either side and all you can see besides blue sky is way down the mountain ridge to the uninhabited jungle in all directions far below and the shiny wide Sierpe River with tributaries joining it as it meanders out to the sea far in the distance. I can feel the driver wondering if we are on the right track. But we say nothing as we continue past huge rocks and holes.
About 40 jolting minutes later, we drop down into a tiny village on the side of a mountain top. There are just three short roads comprising the village; the main one has a grocery tienda and some men in front drinking sodas. We pause and a teen approaches us. As we are interested in the local art, he hails a tall man over.
Ulise is an artist of fine masks and he invites us to his home and workshop. We are lucky, as he has been carving for 10 years and his work is the best we see. He has two beautiful daughters — Louden, 9, and her sister, who is so young and shy I don’t get her name before she runs off. I have brought some colorful rubber balls from Friday Harbor and I give Louden two. She is also shy but I think she likes them.
The family home is fairly modern — cement floors, wood boards supporting a sink, an ancient refrigerator on planks. The turquoise-painted home is clean and tidy and has many family members turned out to observe the gringos as we observe them.
While we are at Ulise’s home, we are introduced to his young nephew, Gilberto, who seems to be in his late teens, another up-and-coming mask artist. By tradition, the men carve and they primarily use balsa and cedro, a wood comparable to mahogany.
Gilberto shows us his “Diablito” mask, which he has either danced in a previous ceremony or will dance in the upcoming fiesta; I am not sure in translation. The mask is not for sale and has a menacing spirit.
Believing the conquistadors to only fear the “White Man’s Devil,” these people’s ancestors cleverly crafted devil masks from wood to protect themselves and their forests. The Boruca hid far enough up in the mountains that they did survive as a people. Today, they are sincerely welcoming and polite but I wonder if they are thinking about historical times as I am.
I find a small jaguar mask I like. Roberto buys a nice blue morpho butterfly mask with the Forest Energy Protector hidden in plain sight, created by Gilberto. Katie and I covet it; we think we will see more like it, but we never do.
We tour the museum, a small traditional building fashioned of thin cane branches neatly held in horizontal rows by woven bark and a thatched roof over one large room about 15 feet tall. It houses a few artifacts and a visual description of the traditional task of the men collecting the natural dye sources from sea urchins, plants, rock minerals used in the intricate textile weaving of the multicolored bags and other items from cotton. I find a backpack for my daughter and, later, Katie and I both must have one. They are colorfully beautiful.
We trek from one artist’s home to another in the hot bright sun. We pass a long community building with about 15 people attending a spirited meeting. We see a man lying in a hammock in his front yard with his beloved horse tied nearby. These people speak Boruca and some Spanish.
As we leave, I am amazed once again at the spirit of indigenous people. These are happy, industrious people high up on their mountaintop, far from the maddening crowds and the crazy pace of modern life.
COMING UP: Arctic Raven Gallery and local Borucan art expert Lauren Jawer are sponsoring an exhibit of Borucan art on Sept. 4 at Arctic Raven Gallery.
— What: Opening of the Borucan masks exhibit, “Dancing with the Devil.”
— When: Sept. 4, 10 a.m.
— Where: Arctic Raven Gallery.
— FYI: At the opening, local expert Lauren Jawer will explain Borucan history, culture and the meaning of the masks.
