Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus to Costa Rica on September 18, 1502, more than 250,000 indigenous people divided into at least eight groups lived throughout the land that is now Costa Rica. Today, less than 2% of Costa Rica’s current population - or approximately 35,000 people - is comprised of native people. Unlike in Peru and Mexico, Spanish conquistadors in Costa Rica did not encounter powerful and unified nations but rather scattered and diverse groups of people. The original occupants of this land suffered from war and disease such as smallpox, measles and tuberculosis brought upon them by powerfully armed Spanish colonizers. Local tribes were further weakened and degraded by slavery and relegation to continually smaller and less fertile lands. In 1620, the colonizing party hanged the two leaders (Caciques) of the BriBri people in an attempt to dissolve the resisting community. However, the remaining BriBris clung together and, led by the heads of the civil (Blu) and military (Kabsi) sectors, ravaged the city of San Bartolomé de Duqueiba on the Río Telire in 1662. The indigenous people of Costa Rica eked out a living for the next three centuries, despite continual pressure from the Spanish ruling class. In 1939, the Costa Rican government granted every native family with 365 acres (148 hectares) to be used for sustainable subsistence agriculture. Although the government passed a law in 1977 that prohibited non-indigenous people from buying or 
renting land within the reserves, illegal logging and mining continue throughout the designated areas.
The Bribri of Kachabri rely on tourism and agriculture, often working days or weeks on textiles that they sell for a fraction of the labor put into them.
Our tour will showcase the village and it's members, while teaching our participants about the plants, lifestyle, culture, and religious beliefs.
We will update this page with articles that tell you more info about the Bribri, and our TwearthDay activities.