TheHuetares are an importantindigenous group of Costa Rica, who in the mid-16th century lived in the center of what is now the country.[1] They are also mentioned with the name ofgüetares orpacacuas. Huetares were the most powerful and best-organized indigenous nation in Costa Rica upon the arrival of theSpaniards.[2] During the 16th century, various chieftains dominated from the Costa Rican Atlantic coast to the Atlantic Slope. The Spanish chronicles mention a myriad of towns and the kings that ruled them, among them theGarabito Empire, located on the Central Atlantic Slope and theTárcoles River basin, to the Virilla River and theCordillera Central; theKingdom of Pacaca, in the currentcanton of Mora, and theLordship of el El Guarco, in the currentGuarco Valley, in theCartago Province, to the plains of the Central Caribbean andChirripó. Their culture belonged to theIntermediate Area, and it stood out mainly for their works in stone, such asmetates,sculptures,tables andceremonial altars; and the non-practice of anthropophagy orcannibalism. Its language, theHuetar language, one of the so-calledChibcha languages, became theLingua franca of the country. Although this language is extinct, it survives in a large number of place names in Costa Rica such asAserrí,Tucurrique orBarva.[3] One of the greatest enemies of the Huetares were theNicaraos, aNahua branch that encroached and settled on part of its territory and displaced the Huetar people that inhabitedBagaces, which resulted in tribal warfare between the Nahuas and Huetares that lasted until the arrival of the Spanish.[4][5]
A small Huetar group has survived to modern times, composed of approximately 1000 individuals. They are located at the top of theQuitirrisíIndigenous Reserve, on the road between the canton of Mora andPuriscal. There is another Huetar settlement inZapatón, in the canton of Puriscal, both in theSan José Province. There are also scattered families in the area of Cerrito deQuepos and neighboring places. These individuals have lost their language, but still retain some of their traditional beliefs, crafts, cuisine and medicine.[6]
The name "huetares", as well as that of "chorotegas", is attributed to the Spanish conquerorGonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, derived from the name of two chieftains: King Huetara, chief of Pacaca kingdom (now Tabarcia, east of Santiago de Puriscal) and Chorotega, chief of the area that occupied the Central Atlantic (territory that covered the plains ofEsparza and those of the Tivives River).[7] Another theory is that it is derived from a Nahuatl phrase 'huey tlalli' ("great land").[8]
It has not been determined exactly whichindigenous peoples of Costa Rica should be considered strictly as Huetares.[9] The Huetar language seems to have been a lingua franca that was spoken or at least understood by most of the communities that inhabited the Costa Rican territory in the 16th century, especially in theCentral Valley and the river basin Virilla and Grande de Tárcoles until its mouth in the Pacific. As common characteristics of these communities, it is worth mentioning relatively dispersed settlement patterns; agriculture based on corn, beans and other crops; great refinement in the work of objects in stone (metates, sculptures, tables and ceremonial altars, etc.), absence of anthropophagy, etc. However, there was no political unity between them, and rather there seems to have been a wide variety of relationships, ranging from subordination and alliance to enmity and warfare. Some of the main Huetar kingdoms seem to have been those ofKing Garabito, on the Pacific side; the kingdom of Pacaca, and the vast domains ofEl Guarco andCorreque kings, which extended from the banks of the Virilla River to Chirripó.[10]