March+3,+2010

media type="custom" key="5528307"media type="file" key="Indigenous Community 2010.mov" width="300" height="300" Indian Community Service By Tinsley Ullrich

Today we went to a local Indian community to do some community service. First, we started off moving wood to make a fire for a special Indian ceremony. The ceremony was to make a sauna for cleansing the soul. There were two very steep hills we had to walk up when we carried the wood, from the top of the hill to the bottom. I even fell once or twice.

When we were done moving wood, we went on a tour of the community. First, our tour guide took us to an altar type thing where they would sacrifice animals and do things with plants, not humans.

Then we went and saw an example of a graveyard. We saw where people are burned. The story is that when people die, they are buried and then the eagle comes and takes them on a five-year journey. Alter that 5 years, the people dig them up and bury their bones somewhere else. But, people of their culture never die, they say, but they are reincarnated. For example, when you have a déjà vu, something your ancestors have seen or done before in a previous life.

There was also a chance for us to buy things that they made. I bought a pair of earrings and a turtle made of clay. Many people got food and we were feeding the cute dogs. They were so hungry and after we fed them and used all the food, they kept following us.

The last thing we did was hiking up a BIG hill and going to see another altar. This one is where people pray for a heeling, a wish, or anything that they need to pray for. But, people in the community can only go twice a year each. The man that took us had a dog that went with him everywhere. The dog was trained to keep evil spirits away. If we had evil spirits with us, we could not have left them there because the dog was protecting his owner.

Finally, we were back on the air-conditioned bus, coming back to Blue Valley. Altogether, it was a good experience and I liked getting to see another culture and community.

Additional notes on the Quitirrisi Indian Community from Mrs. Joyner: -There are 8 indigenous groups in Costa Rica -There are 1200 members of this group; -93% are assimilated into modern society; -This group prefers to adhere to Quitirrisi traditions such as belief in many gods of nature and the importance of performing cleansing rituals and animal sacrifices to please the gods.

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