Ethnographic Field Research in Costa Rica: Preserving the Ngöbe Indigenous Tribe

Karla Dana joins us for another Explorer’s Club talk! How has the Ngöbe indigenous tribe in Costa Rica preserved its cultural heritage in the face of Spanish colonization, and more recently, in the face of modernizing influences? Karla steps through the process taken to understand how cultural heritage is preserved, starting with the creation of the research, the establishment of research ethics, and sharing stories from the field, including a look at what it was like living with the tribe for 3 weeks. She will delve into the analysis of the research data, which culminated in a project to transcribe and print hundreds of copies of a book containing the language and ancestral legends of this tribe, aiming to further preserve its rich culture.