The Ngöbe-Buglé Indians

Panama has historically been home to numerous indigenous tribes, though today only eight main groups that are native to the area remain, working to uphold their primitive cultures and lifestyles. The Ngöbe-Buglé Indians make up the largest indigenous tribe of Panama, consisting of over one hundred thousand people. The Ngöbe and the Buglé are individual tribes, having similar customs and inhabiting the same area but speaking their own languages. Formerly Guaymi, the Ngöbe-Buglé people reside in the “Comarca,” an independent region that is home to several native tribes and consists of parts of Chiriqui Province, the Bocas del Toro Province and the Veraguas Province.

Both the Ngöbe and Buglé people managed to retain their native land and maintain their cultural lifestyles into the early 1900s. But soon confrontations with the Spanish and increasing colonization forced them to retreat deeper and deeper into the mountains in order to uphold their culture rich, autonomous lifestyles and customs. The homes of the Ngöbe-Buglé people today are modest huts with dirt floors that are typically located in areas with nearby rivers or in valleys. The Ngöbe-Buglé natives subsist by hunting, fishing, and raising cattle, pigs and chickens as well as growing bananas, oranges, mangos, rice, and beans. The economy of the community relies in part on coffee bean farming and selling native crafts such as the chaquira to tourists. The community also has a select few establishments which provide work opportunities to some natives, such as a hospital, schools, stores or governmental entities.

The women dress in long, vibrantly colored hand made dresses adorned with intricate patterns. Such unique dresses can take a woman several weeks to sew by hand. For ceremonies, men wear geometrically patterned face paint and dress in the feathers of exotic birds. The chaquira, which is an ornate, colorful beaded necklace, is rooted deep in the tribe’s cultural history and is still associated with the tribe’s identity. Today, the Ngöbe-Buglé people make and sell the chaquira to tourists to help maintain their land and uphold their culture.

The indigenous tribes of Panama have faced a constant struggle against the financial driven motives of ranchers, miners, and loggers seeking to capitalize on the natural resources of the tribes’ native land. Years of protests finally led to the government’s recognition of the Comarca, established as an autonomous region as of March of 1997. Despite this valiant victory, the homes and cultural lifestyles of all of the indigenous tribes remain threatened by deforestation, mining and colonization.

About the Author: Laurie Cooper, of Cpanama Real Estate Corp., is an expert on Panama real estate. For more information, please visit http://www.cpanama.com