Sibö & the Tapirs: Bribri Creation Myth

Sibö is the creator. The all-knowing. The chief God. There was nothing before Sibö. Thus, Sibö created the Earth. But when Sibö created the Earth, he had nothing on it. It was dead and barren. He wanted to plant his corn seeds, which would grow into the Bribri people. But to do so, he needed land and soil. Sibö searched across the universe, looking between many planets to find a source for his Earth. Finally, he came upon a planet full of tapirs.

He summoned to him a large bat. He said to the bat, “Bring me some blood of the little girl tapir who lives on this far away planet”. So the bat flew into the tapirs’ house during the night and sucked some blood, returning to Sibö. It defecated on the rocks, and from that, Sibö was able to create a small patch of soil and plant trees. This was repeated 3 more times, and 3 more patches of Earth were created.

But on the fourth trip, the Father Tapir put a rope in the doorway- which cut the bat in half. The top half of the bat flew back to Sibö unsuccessfully. Thus, Sibö himself went to visit the tapir family in order to convince them to visit his Earth.

At first, they were very unwilling and did not trust Sibö. The grandmother tapir was especially adamant that they should not go to Earth. It took Sibö many conversations, finally convincing the family that there was to be a great feast in their honor and they must come. Now this little girl tapir was extremely fat and could not walk on her own. She always needed to be carried by the grandmother.

So the grandma put the daughter in a pouch on her back and they went to feast. At this feast, there was lots of dancing (as traditional feasts go). They danced and danced, round and round, with all the gods and tapirs. It was during this dance when the grandmother’s pouch broke. The little girl tapir was crushed beneath hundreds of feet and spread across the Earth. This is what created the land and soil.

Thus, the land was created from these tapir Gods. The tapir is considered sacred. It cannot be hunted or eaten, and deserves our highest respect. Sibö is also inside every part of life - the tapir, the people, the sea, sky, and land - he must never be forgotten.

Read more... Taking Care of Sibö's Gifts by my wonderful friends - Gloria Mayorga, Juanita Sanchez, and Paula Palmer.

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See more photos of Costa Rican widlife - from vipers to tapirs and more!