Guanacaste has strong Afro-descendant roots embedded in much of our daily life: the food, the language, the music. For a long time, it has been no secret to anyone.
History and genetics have repeatedly confirmed this evidence. But also through culture, singer-songwriter Guadalupe Urbina, for example, has been consolidating this theme for many years in her musical and artistic work.
This “tri-ethnic” identity, according to Afro-Costa Rican writer Quince Duncan, has been denied, forgotten, and sometimes simply ignored. As a result, the majority of the Guanacastecan population seems not to have fully embraced it as their own, but that is changing.
The Voice of Guanacaste interviewed three people who carry the Afro-Guanacastecan cultural flag to uplift it in their respective professions. Hear their stories in their own words:
Milagro Obando Matarrita
On the cover of her book Noche sin luna (Night Without Moon), poet Milagro Obando Matarrita is cited as the first Afro-Guanacastecan writer.Photo: César Arroyo Castro
“Back in the 90s, I was in high school when I decided to participate in the ‘Reinado del Maíz’. Of course, I prepared my corn outfit. I spent days crafting the outfit and getting ready for the event, and when I finally dressed up and looked in the mirror, I had a problem. I didn’t see myself as a young Chorotega because I didn’t know what to do with my hair. That was one of the first experiences that made me reflect on my identity. From then on, I began to question why, if we are told that we are Chorotega, my family, myself, and the people in my community are curly-haired and have a very pronounced color. To this day, I have gone through a long process of reflection and search for my identity as a Black Afro-Guanacastecan. I knew I was a Black woman, I believe I always knew, but what I didn’t understand was why I am a Black woman if I am in the Pacific territory?”
The exhibit pays tribute to women who have been erased from history
“When I took general studies in that literary workshop, I began writing poetry about my identity without really knowing that I was writing black poetry. I had to contribute through my poetry, and I also feel fortunate to see that more and more people are joining this movement every day. I know that many Guanacastecans, like me, have had the experience and are now recognizing themselves as Afro-descendants. But they didn’t have a clear understanding before because history isn’t taught in elementary schools or high schools. Or many knew but didn’t have the chance to speak out, or it wasn’t the right historical moment to openly discuss the issue. Those who identify as Afro-descendants have to put on the shirt too because we are almost obligated to continue this struggle that is not yet over.”
Keyler Morera
Keyler Morera is a teacher and the first person from Guanacaste to join the Afro-Costa Rican Civic Parliament.Photo: César Arroyo Castro
“This shirt I’m wearing today made me start to think about how to ‘Guanacastecize’ it. So I started researching and found that the Afro-descendant populations in Guanacaste used ‘manta’ clothes, as that was the fabric available. So I decided “I’m going to create an outfit using manta fabric, but with some details in Afro-Caribbean fabric.” It’s like trying to say, “We want and can now do what our Afro-descendant ancestors in Guanacaste couldn’t do”: freely use their attire. There is no book by a historian from the 1800s that talks about Afro-descendant populations. No one bothered to do it because we were told that we were all Europeans and Chorotegas, never Afro-descendants. We have to piece together the puzzle with the information available around us.”
The first Spanish explorers brought enslaved African people with them to achieve their goals of conquering and exploiting these lands.
“It’s a great responsibility because there are still many people in Guanacaste who don’t know that we are Afro-descendants, and there are still many people who resist identifying as Afro-descendants in Guanacaste. You go out and ask, and no one identifies as Afro-descendant here. You might see a Black woman with curly hair who is from Nicoya or Guanacaste, and she will say that she is not Afro-descendant, that she is Chorotega. Why? Because it’s a matter of identity, of what we were taught in elementary school, of what we were taught in high school.”
“A personal project I have with the support of the Afro-Costa Rican Civic Parliament is the creation of an Afro-Guanacastecan association. An association of community leaders who identify as Afro-descendants. We want to form an association to start reclaiming that history from the ground up. We can’t keep waiting for it to come from above.”
Malcom Rojas Araya
Malcom Rojas Araya, a quijongo player and multi-instrumentalist. He participated last year with the Commission for the Safeguarding of the Guanacasteco Quijongo for the first time in the 25th edition of the African Diaspora Flowers Festival.Photo: César Arroyo Castro
“I am in a phase of self-recognition as a composer and also as an artivist (art and activism). My activism is related to the entire topic of Guanacastecan music. I believe that the term Afro-Guanacastecan comes to tell us how to name something we hadn’t identified before, but which we do every day in our culture and traditions. My journey began about five years ago, or a little longer ago, when I discovered the quijongo. It is very important and central to Afro-Guanacastecan culture because it is an instrument with historical significance. It is an instrument that came from the imagination of enslaved people from Africa who arrived here it’s built with materials from our province, and has gained significant social meaning. As a musician and artist, recognizing the social role of all these expressions has helped me understand more about Afro-Guanacastecan culture.”
“While it is true that many people have been discussing this topic for several years, and I mention Guadalupe Urbina here, I believe we are at a moment when the issue is more than ever coming to the forefront. We have seen how people in Guanacaste have been accepting and recognizing Afro-descendancy. I think this is a very important historical process we are experiencing. Perhaps this will be regarded in the future as a significant period for the province.”
“I believe that self-recognition has positive consequences for the population. Understanding our own culture helps us to recognize when there is an extractivist or racist attitude. For example, using the quijongo as an aesthetic element rather than a musical one. Putting it on stage just because it looks cool is a form of extractivism. The right approach would be for people to research and, I invite them to do so, to reach out to members of the community so that we can help them understand that it comes from an oral tradition, that it has a code. This code is very complex, hundreds of years old, and it must be respected because it has value and significance.”
Editor’s note: The testimonies and accounts of the interviewed individuals were only modified for accuracy and length.
Comments