Borucan Social Cohesion: Maternity, Allomaternity with Breastfeeding up until Puberty

This article presents an ethnographic study on the practice and social function of co-maternity and breastfeeding among the Boruca, an indigenous group. We find these practices are possible due to a network of reciprocal relationships between related women and their children. These practices give older women access to companionship and affection and increase care and attention when they reach old age. Meanwhile, young allomothers receive an orientation to motherhood as they care for their siblings. This tradition ensures that a mother’s youngest child has a privileged place in the family while their siblings are cared for by allomothers. We show that cooperative breeding and allomaternal breastfeeding practices reinforce social integration and that these practices, that include breastfeeding up until puberty, promote cultural resistance through maternal and intergenerational family members. Thus, maternal practices have supported cultural identity in an ethnicity that has continuously been exposed to diverse influences.