From the Archives: A Right to Hunt in the Bribri Indigenous Territory, Talamanca, Costa Rica

In 2012, I lived in Talamanca, Costa Rica. There, I was fortunate to collaborate with a group of women and men who taught me about living off the land. These are the people who have taught me most about Indigenous rights, particularly those rights related to the management of natural resources and food.

Courtesy of Google Maps

The Bribri people have lived in Talamanca since time immemorial. In 1977, the Costa Rican government created a Reserva Indigena for the Talamanca Bribri people (43,690 hectares) and appointed local governments for this Bribri Territory. In 1982, “La Amistad International Park” was created bordering and overlapping with the Bribri Indigenous Territory. Also in 1982, La Amistad International Park and the Bribri Territory were proclaimed a United Nations Biosphere Reserve called La Reserva Biosfera La Amistad. 

In 2012, I worked with people from the Kalom ã community. For many of my colleagues in this community hunting was a way of life. People hunted for many reasons that are themselves are connected. For example, hunting was a way of finding foods and medicines but it was also recreation. In addition, walking hunting paths was a way of teaching youth about the land.

My colleagues taught me that hunting was as a process whereby people communicate with beings in other worlds to ask permission to take animals. These beings include Sibö̀ (the creator) and other beings that protect animals. Asking permission to hunt is one way to show respect for Sibö̀ and other beings. Another way of respecting these beings is to hunt only what they need for food or medicine. For example, the Kalom ã residents I worked with, both young and Elder, explained that they did not hunt and sell forest meat. Instead, animals are hunted for household consumption and sharing among families. 

Kalom ã residents' access to hunting was affected by the hunting law that was implemented when the La Amistad protected area was created. This hunting law has resulted in a management plant that dictates what people can hunt, where they can hunt, and how hunting should take place. Specifically, there is only one area of the protected area where Bribri hunting is permitted and even then, they can only hunt animals that are not endangered and they can only hunt using traditional bow and arrow techniques; this despite the fact that many people use rifles and have done so for many years. 

Bribri people have acted differently towards protected area hunting regulation. For example, some of my colleagues explained to me that the hunting ban was the reason why they no longer hunt. A few female colleagues shared that because of these laws they are scared to send their sons out to hunt. For other residents, the hunting ban did not stop them from hunting. 

Generally speaking, the hunting ban was not well received. One reason it was not well received was because it was imposition on Bribri people's rights to food. I learned how Bribri people have their own ways of thinking about hunting and living off the land that are different from the Costa Rican government's ways of managing forests. In fact, Kalom ã Elders created what they call the original hunting laws. These original hunting laws resulted from meetings among Bribri Elders who had convened to talk about hunting rules, based on Bribri values, because of their concern about changes in animal populations in their communities. Although Elders hunting laws were being observed in Kalom ã when the Costa Rican government hunting ban went into effect, these Elders laws were not considered in protected area managment. 

Another reason hunting bans have not been well received is because they minimize the importance of traditional authority and Indigenous decision-making mechanisms. The original Elder hunting laws are a case in point. Although these Bribri laws existed before the Costa Rican state hunting ban, the Elders laws, recommendations, and teachings were not considered in the Costa Rican state legislation.

On the other hand, there are some Kalom ã residents that support aspects of the hunting ban. For example, one Elder explained that government laws might help to control hunting by people who live outside of Coroma but go there to hunt animal meat for sale; this Elder made it clear that these laws should, however, not be applied to all aspects of Indigenous hunting because hunting, sharing, and eating forest meat is part of what it means to be Bribri.

When I gave a presentation on this topic earlier this year at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, I received both positive and negative feedback. Some conference attendees were keen to discuss how to best respect the rights to food of Bribri people living in and around protected areas. Other attendees were concerned that Indigenous rights to food were not compatible with aspects of biodiversity conservation legislation. One attendee said it was unlikely that conservation biologists would ever accept hunting in protected areas, especially when endangered species are being hunted. Although the hunting of endangered species is a valid concern, it is important to acknowledge that hunting is a right for Indigenous people in Costa Rica. And, this right is not limited to the act of hunting; it includes the right to making decisions about how to manage Bribri food systems.

All too often we focus on one way of looking at land-use. In the case of my recent conference experience, I learned that many people strongly associate protected forests with conservation of biological species. So, how can we have a discussion about different ways of understanding the land? One way is to think about it from a human rights perspective. As a researcher, it is my goal to use my research to help the public become familiar with human rights to land, to food, and to decision-making. And, I hope the more familiar we are with human rights policies, the better chance we have of convincing policy makers to act on them. 

New Year's Eve Food Challenge: What Is This Fruit We've Been Eating Over The Holidays?

It's the holiday season and, for many of us, that means sharing food. I'm sure today, New Year's Eve, is no exception. In fact, I'm sure that the majority of readers have shared this mystery food at some point over the holiday. 

Readers, can you tell us the name of this fruit? 

If you're stuck, here are some clues:

How do you eat this fruit? This fruit is unique in we eat its pulp as well as its seeds. The pulp can be eaten raw but the seeds need to be roasted or at least dried in the sun before eating.

Where is this fruit from? It is native to Central America although it is grown all over the world in tropical areas. And, Ghana is one of the world's largest producers of this fruit.

Please share your answers in the comments section below!

Bhutanese Butter Tea

Yak Butter used in Bhutanese Tea (courtesy of wikimedia commons)

Tea is ritual. Preparing tea is a skilled tradition, drinking tea can cure illness, sharing tea is a form of celebrating friendship, and reading tea is a form of fortune-telling. There are two forms of tea that have always intrigued me: Moroccan mint tea and Bhutanese butter tea. Although I have no immediate travel plans to Morocco, my work will bring me to Bhutan in 2014. On the top of my Bhutanese to do list is tea-tasting. 

I began reading about Bhutanese tea this year in preparation for the International Society of Ethnobiology Conference in 2014. I learned that tea in Bhutan is different from tea I've heard about anywhere else in the world. What makes Bhutanese tea so special? Butter, also known as Suja. Butter is mixed into black tea with a little bit of salt. A fellow blogger, Dolro, posted some great pictures here of her family churning butter into tea. Dolro explained that the finished product is a creamy brown colour. 

Creamy brown butter tea (courtesy of wikimedia commons)

A friend of mine, Jigme Dorji, explained that butter tea is common all over Bhutan. On the other hand, Yak butter tea is only made by Nomad communities. I understand that the Yak is a very important being for Nomads. Yaks provide food, clothing, and are part of many nomadic rituals. Because I am in Bhutan for a conference, I may only get the chance to try regular butter tea, but I'll keep my fingers crossed in hopes to try tea made with Yak butter. 

So why put butter in your tea, besides the fact that it tastes good? Although I'm not entirely sure, one reason may be that butter tea is high in fat and important to keep people warm at high altitudes. In the Andean highlands mate de coca is another tea important to keep people warm at high altitudes. This Christmas I was feeling pretty cold myself after moving home from Costa Rica. In light of my new knowledge of butter tea I tried to make my own. I started putting coconut butter in my teas and indeed it warmed me up and tasted delicious. I'm sure there is a rich history of the origin of butter tea, if you have any leads please share them in the comments section here. 

Sharing my story: why I work with people and plants

As part of my involvement in the International Society of Ethnobiology, I was asked "why did you become an ethnobiologist?" Ethnobiology refers to the study of people and biology or people and their environment. I identify myself as an ethnobiologist because I work with people and plants. Although many factors led to my ethnobiology career path, I answered this question with a few important ones. You can find my story on the Emerging Ethnobiologists blog and I have re-posted it here: 

My Story: 

1) Why did you become an ethnobiologist?

Becoming an ethnobiologist was a process. I grew up gardening with my grandmother and exploring forests in Canada with my dad. Spending time outdoors with my family cultivated my interest in plants, the wild, the farmed, and the medicinal.

Camping in the Canadian Rocky Mountains (1986)

When I began university, I did not study ethnobotany. Instead, I explored classes in chemistry and Spanish. Perhaps, it was when I moved to Latin America - first for an exchange program and later for work and play - that my studies and my life-projects came together under the guise of ethnobotany. 

In Latin America - boating through the Peruvian Amazon and working on Costa Rican farms - I became more dedicated to the connections between people and plants. When I began my Masters degree at the University of Costa Rica, I took my first ethnobotany course.

A trip on Eduardo II in the Peruvian Amazon (2005)

Cooking peach palm flowers in Talamanca, Costa Rica (2012)

2) What is one of the most memorable experiences from your work?

My most memorable experiences happened while cultivating a collaborative partnership and friendship  with Bribri women in Talamanca, Costa Rica; this friendship began with my doctoral research and continues through a mutual project we developed on organic coffee farming. It is with these women I feel I have learned most of what I need to know to live - contently - in this world.  

3) What is your future plan?

In the immediate future, my plan is to finish writing my thesis. Afterwards, I hope to continue to collaborate with women and youth on ethnobotany projects and to teach ethnobiology. Right now I am brainstorming about ethnobiology courses and seminars I would like to teach; these include courses on qualitative research methods and the ethnobiology of food and a seminars on cross-cultural research partnerships.

Mountain Foods: Kefir

Kefir Grains (photo courtesy of luxomedia)

I usually get get a good source of calcium and micronutrients from hearty green vegetables. In Costa Rica I had a backyard supply of wild fiddlehead ferns. Back in Canada, greens don't grow well in the winter, so I challenged myself to get a replacement source of nutrients. Kefir is the replacement I found.

Although I tend to write about plants and forests, kefir is neither of those. Kefir is a yoghurt like drink made from kefir grains, a.k.a, tiny balls of bacteria and yeast. Kefir grains look like tiny cauliflowers. It is thought that kefir was crafted by people dwelling in the Caucasus mountains (separating the Caspian and Black seas) over 2,000 years ago. 

Here is what happened when myself, an aspiring plant harvester, experimented with bacteria...

1. Online, I ordered one tablespoon of kefir grains from a company that imports Greek strains of kefir bacteria.

2. I placed these grains in some organic whole milk (kefir likes to eat fat, sugar, and lactose, and won't grow without them).

3. I babied the kefir, changing the milk multiple times to make sure my kefir was adjusting well to its new - far from mountain like - sterile conditions in my cupboard.

While I cared for kefir, I thought about how well this bacteria-yeast organism has adapted over the years. People once hung kefir on their doors; it was mixed when people opened and closed the doors and goats graciously provided their skin as a home for this drink. Today I'm using pasteurized milk and a glass jar to grow these creatures. If I were kefir, I would prefer the goat-skinned home rather than the glass one, but for now, I don't have a good source of goat.

Photo courtesy of Dom, who writes extensively on how to make kefir 

4. After a week or so, I strained my kefir grains into a glass and was left with a thick milky mixture. My kefir looked like yoghurt, smelled a little sour but not enough to turn me off, and tasted pretty good. All encouraging for my first attempt!

Pros: I learned about an ancient mountain-food, hopefully filled with micronutrients, calcium, and immune-system boosting probiotic bacteria. I am excited of the possibility to keep growing kefir using milk from local goats or cows, and even coconut milk. 

Cons: Kefir put me to sleep. I don't know if it is the fact that I'm not used to the pasteurized whole milk (I've been virtually dairy-free for years) or it's the new bacteria and yeasts I'm adjusting to. Something has me thinking it was the latter because my partner was also knocked out by the kefir. We've decided kefir should be recommended for anyone with insomnia, graduate students I'm talking to you! 

If you want to grow your own kefir, here are a few sites with great advice: freestyle farm, Dom's Kefir Encyclopedia, and SimplyKefir.

Need kefir grains? Try asking people you know. If that doesn't work, there are many sites that offer good grains, my preference is to order from small-scale kefir makers. I liked a few sellers on Etsy and I also think SimplyKefir is a good source of grains.

From Ghana's Grasscutters to Indigenous Wild Rice: Heirloom Recipes Continued

Ghana’s Grasscutter:
In my last blog, I posted an heirloom recipe using an alternative protein, Tucan meat. Similarly, I found an article promoting another unique source of animal protein, the Grasscutter (also known as the Greater Cane Rat) . Read how farmers in Ghana are raising this wild rodent and selling what A. Bergman calls “The Other, Other White Meat”.

Winnowing Wild Rice in a Birch Bark Basket, Manitoba, Canada

Manoomin for Thanksgiving? 
While heirloom recipes are on my mind, I can’t forget to mention wild rice. Thanks to the Anishnaabe people of Canada, I’ve seen how this hearty grain is processed, I’ve even danced in a wild rice pit! This short story takes you to Indigenous people's wild rice foodscape on the lakes of North America. You'll learn how people canoe to sites of rice harvest and hand-pick this nutty, delicious grain. With North American Thanksgiving right around the corner, try one of these wild rice recipes.

Looking for a Food Adventure? 
Try creating a meal with one of the world’s most endangered foods. If you are in the Americas, choose from this list of endangered foods. If you aren’t sure where to find these rare delicacies, don't be afraid to ask around. On my recent trip to Virginia, I was suprised to find my host growing an endangered fruit, the Pawpaw, in her backyard. Still on my list of foods to find are the Ozette Potato and the Tennessee Fainting Goat. 

Toucan Soup, an Heirloom Recipe

Before I moved to Costa Rica, I did not think I would add Toucan Soup to my recipe book. My Bribri friends in Talamanca have taught me otherwise. I’ve learned that toucan meat can be prepared in a number or forms, from fried to smoked, much like chicken or turkey; here, I share a recipe that is a favorite among my Bribri friends called Wacho, or, as I’ve translated it, Toucan Soup. Pig or chicken meat is now commonly substituted in this soup, but you’ll still find people who treasure this heirloom recipe.

Recipe for Urrék (Toucan in Bribri)

Pluck and fillet the Toucan as you would any wild foul or chicken (boiling the bird may help remove feathers)

Fry the pieces of meat in a large pot with onion, garlic, wild cilantro and peppers, and salt (root vegetables can be added at this step, such as yucca)

Add water and bring to a boil; keep on the fire until the meat is cooked

 Once the meat is cooked, stir in white rice

 Finish cooking your soup until rice is tender and serve hot

Learning about toucan as a food left me with a few lingering questions: What other wild birds are important foods? Why are these foods important to people who eat them? And, what do they taste like? I hope to learn more about these wild delicacies as my time passes in Talamanca. I often reflect on how fortunate I am to participate in indigenous family traditions that have been practiced for hundreds of years. At the same time, I’m sorry I didn’t spent more time asking my grandparents to show me how to fillet a chancellor chicken or stuff a moose heart.

If you are intrigued to learn a few more heirloom recipes, check out a favorite book of mine called Renewing America’s Food Traditions. Reading these recipes will be even more rewarding if you can find someone who knows how to prepare them. 

Listen to toucans I recorded while visiting a friends' farm in Costa Rica:

Ye’ ù ã (At My House): Fieldwork in the Bribri Indigenous Territory

Talamanca Mountain Range - A view from the boat ride into Coroma

For the past few months I have been fortunate to visit multiple rural communities in Costa Rica and learn about people’s use of tropical plants in their food systems. As some of you may know, I recently visited the community where I will be living for the next year as part of my research. The community is called Klóm ã (Coroma, in Spanish) and is a Bribri Indigenous community; the Bribri are one of eight Indigenous groups living in Costa Rica. In the Bribri language, the community name Klóm ã signifies a place where you can find zapote trees. Klóm ã is located in the Talamanca Mountains in southern Costa Rica. Here, I will be living with and learning from Bribri people, a people that have been living in this region for more than 4,000 years. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized the rich biocultural diversity in Talamanca by creating the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve and World Heritiage Site in this region. 

Working with Bribri women harvesting organic banana

Thanks to a longstanding friendship with my colleague, a Bribri community member and professor at the University of Costa Rica, I have been introduced to a Bribri women’s group in the Coroma community. This women’s group has invited me to join them in their activities, including cultivating organic banana and cacao, and planting wild plants within their community. Through my participation in these activities, I hope to gain a better understanding of how the Bribri use plants and forests (also understood as Bribri ethnoecology). Working and living with Bribri women, I expect to acquire new skills. Such skills include learning the Bribri language, learning how to grow the food I eat, and learning how to use a machete!

Boat to bus taxi into Coroma

The Coroma community is removed from towns and cities. It takes buses, boats, and short hikes through the woods and over rivers to get there; it may seem like a lot but it is relatively straightforward to get in and out, as long as you speak a little Bribri and know which boats to take.

Bribri roof made of  Úkö, a tropical palm

The accommodations in Coroma are comfortable. In many ways, living there represents the simple life that I appreciate. It gets dark a little after 7:00 pm, and since there's no electricity, bedtime comes shortly thereafter. I envision many good night’s sleeps over the next year as well as many early mornings (the roosters start crowing at around 4:30 in the morning).

Boiled banana 

Meals are simple but taste very good. Rice and beans are staples, as are bananas. There are several different kinds of bananas and they appear in every meal and as snacks. I also plan to grow some of my own local plants over the course of my research; I look forward to blogging about the unique edible forest plants that I come across.

River for bathing and relaxing

With no electricity, I will not have regular access to my blog; but every month or so I’ll travel out of the community to catch up on e-mail and to post the occasional blog. In the meanwhile, please keep the questions coming - although my responses will be delayed, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Hoppers Poppers

In light of World Food Day, and continuing with the alternative foods theme, here is a guest post from David Steen on green and healthy eating! David A. Steen received his Ph.D. from Auburn University, his M.S. from the State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and his B.S. from the University of New Hampshire. He researches the ecology and conservation biology of wildlife and blogs about his work at www.LivingAlongsideWildlife.com. His copyrighted work appears here under a Creative Commons license.

Courtesy of http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

I’ve eaten bugs.  I can’t honestly say it was by accident either, because I went online beforehand to look for recipes. Now, before I lose you completely, let me explain myself.

A few years ago I read an article about a man that was attempting to promote insects as food in the United States (and he’s not the only one). Insects, he argued, are an abundant food source and a more sustainable form of protein than the animals Americans typically eat, particularly cows.  Raising cattle can be costly; each cow requires a vast amount of resources before they can be consumed.  In fact, more energy goes into raising cows than we get back from eating them. Plus, cattle can produce a lot of greenhouse gases. Together with concerns about antibiotics and growth hormones administered to livestock and animal welfare issues associated with large, factory farms, some have grown dissatisfied with the system.  Insects represent a food without the baggage.

That’s not entirely true, I suppose, as bugs could benefit from a public relations campaign.  After all, they’re gross.  But I was intrigued by the prospect of a cheap source of protein and my thoughts kept drifting to all the grasshoppers that would fly out of my way when I walked through the field next to my house. I kept telling myself that eating insects wasn’t really all that unusual, after all, many cultures have eaten insects throughout history.

When a friend announced that she was hosting a potluck dinner with the requirement that dishes needed to contain ingredients that we foraged for ourselves, I had the excuse I had been waiting for.  I would make fried grasshoppers.  I started referring to them as hopper poppers, hoping a catchy name would remove images of antennae and wings from everyone’s thoughts.

Catching the grasshoppers proved to be more difficult than I had planned.  I didn’t recall have any problems catching bugs when I was a kid (no, I didn’t eat them).  But after I ran around my yard pouncing after grasshoppers, I was left sprawled on the ground, arms outstretched in a futile attempt to grab one.  They would see me before I could see them; grasshoppers erupted out of the grass and flew away as I walked, always just out of reach.  I hoped that nobody was watching.  Don’t mind me, I’m just trying to get something to eat, I imagined explaining.

A change in strategy was warranted.  After borrowing a sweep net I was ready to try again.  I rapidly swung the net back and forth in front of me as I strode through the tall grass, hoping that I was snagging grasshoppers as I went.  It was tiring work.  After about ten minutes or so I ventured a glance into the net and I was pleased to see a wriggling mass of insects at the bottom.

I kept the grasshoppers alive overnight so they’d have a change to purge themselves of anything in their digestive system and then I placed them in the freezer.  After a quick bake in the oven to ensure they were cooked through, I dipped them in egg and breaded them in a mixture of flour, bread crumbs, garlic powder and oregano.  After that, they only needed to be deep fried for about 20-30 seconds before they were crisp and golden brown.  My roommate used about 20 grasshoppers to dip in melted chocolate. 

So there we were, standing in our kitchen looking at about 100 prepared grasshoppers.  All that was left was to eat them.  With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and threw one in my mouth.  They were good!  They tasted just like anything else you might deep fry.  Although the recipe called for removing the wings and legs, we decided that the ones I had caught were so small it would probably be okay to leave them on. Nevertheless, I will probably remove these parts next time (if there is a next time), or at least have a toothpick handy.

When we arrived at the potluck, everyone wanted to see me eat one first so they knew this wasn’t an elaborate plan to get them to eat bugs while I laughed.  After I obliged, everyone tried at least one.  Elaborate ruse or not, I still thought it was funny.

Courtesy of foodphoria.blogspot.com

Dave isn't alone in this feat. Check out what others have to say about eating insects: 

http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts/en/info/info/faq/

http://edibug.wordpress.com/