This work constitutes the most detailed study that exists on the indigenous areas of southern Costa Rica during the entire first century of independent life. The author presents an integral analysis of the demographic, economic and political development of the indigenous populations of Chirripó, Estrella, Talamanca (on the Caribbean side) and the South Pacific. By tracing the varied relationships that linked Bribris and Cabécares to the Caribbean and Pacific slopes, and to Borucas and Térrabas from the Pacific slope, this work argues that these zones were part of the same indigenous region that is called the Great Talamanca