Balsaria
Aug 23, 2023
1 min read
Balsaria is a stick-fighting game played by the indigenous peoples of the Bocas area (e.g. the Gnabe-Buglé and Guaymi groups). Nowadays it's nearly impossible to see this game in the wild, but as recently as the 1950's it was still quite common and in fact documented at least twice -- first on video by National Geographic and second, in writing by a missionary named Ephraim S. Alphonse who lived among the indigenous for many years and published a dictionary and grammar that included a description of the game.
Here's the silent video we asked National Geographic to digitize for us, followed by Alphonse's description.
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