Traditional work attire for Barequera de Guapi

Barequero is a traditional gold prospecting technique of Colombia dating back from precolonial times, engineered by indigenous people a way to extract gold from andean soil, beaches and riverbeds. The technique was exploited by Spanish colonizers, turning the indigenous population to a slave workforce of gold extraction; this and many other factors decrease the native population, which was quickly reinforced with African slave labor who learned the technique from their indigenous coworkers.

Due this job been reserved for African and Indigenous population, the working attire in Guapi was influence by these two cultures, due this labor taking places on the riversides, the clothing needed to be appropriate for people to get in the water without been disturbed by wet clothes. The barequera would have worn a white chest piece made with wool that came with a simple skirt that ties around the waist with a knot, unlike the chest piece, the skirt would have some decorative pattern; to protect them from the sun, barequeras would use both a kerchief around their hair and a hat