km south of the city of Buenos Aires. In archaeological terms, Boruca (and all of Costa Rica) lies in the culture area known as the Intermediate Zone (after Willey, 1971) or Circum-Caribbean culture area (after Steward, 1949). It is called the Intermediate area because of its location between "the two areas of highest New World culture: Mesoamerica and Peru" (22 Willey). Language The Boruca have an indigenous language known as Boruca or Brunka. It is a member of the Chibchan language family. Nevertheless, this indigenous language too is a product of the colonial period, and is actually a mixture of the speech of the several peoples that make up the modern-day Boruca. The Boruca language is nearly extinct, having only six elderly terminal speakers surviving, who speak the language fluently. Younger members of the community generally understand the language, but do not speak it. There exist 30 to 35 non-fluent speakers. It is also notable that the language is taught to the children who attend the local school. The main language in Boruca is Spanish, the native tongue and the only one spoken by the vast majority of the population. Folklore Many traditional tales are told in the Boruca community. Story of Quetzal According to the story of Quetzal, there was a large village with a cacique (chief), who consistently triumphed in leading his followers in wars against other tribes. His wife was going to have a child, and his biggest worry was that he was going to die before his son was born. However, to his avail, the enemy tribes ceased attack. The cacique had a beautiful son named Satú. The sorcerers of the village were delighted to find that, on the day the baby was born, a beautiful bird perched itself atop a tree branch and began to sing a sweet song. They subsequently gifted Satú with an amulet made of gold, in the shape of the quetzal bird's head. This amulet would be Satú's eternal warrior and protector. Satú grew to be the strongest male in the village and was never injured or debilitated by wars. His uncle, Labí, was jealous of Satú because he knew that when the cacique died, Satú would be the heir to the throne. Before going to bed, Satú usually took off his amulet and stored it under his head. One night, after Satú had fallen asleep, Labí snuck into his room