Panamá had a large native American population.  Size and distribution of settlements varied according to geography and climate.  The largest villages were situated near the biggest rivers of the Pacific slopes, i.e. Tuira, Chucunaque (Darién), central plains of Coclé, Veraguas, and Herrera provinces.  It is difficult to relate pre-Columbian peoples to the surviving groups because of the way in which the Spanish described their language and culture.

From Punta Chame (Pacific) to Río Indio (Atlantic) to the Gulf of Urabá, on the Colombian border, the Spanish described a "culture" they called CUEVA.  To the west of the Cueva, the situation is more complicated.  The Spanish talk about many languages being spoken.

The impact of the Conquest was drastic, especially in lands occupied by the Cueva and in the central Pacific plains.  Most of these people disappeared, exterminated by genocide during the Conquest, diseases brought by the Spaniards and against which they had no physical defense; tribal wars and finally "mestizaje" (mixing) produced by a widespread polygamy amongst the early Spanish Colonists and in modern times, intermarriages.

In mid-16th century, the Indian population of Darién, Panamá and the Perlas Archipelago was almost extinct because of Pedrarias Davila's systematic killing policy, the Spanish "reduction" and illnesses like measles and smallpox.  Before the end of this century, the Spaniards had to bring Indians from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Perú, and the Antilles to work in the pearl fisheries.  

Today, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientists estimate the native American population at around 200,000.  Of the groups which survived the Conquest and remain in Panamá, five  speak languages of the Chibcha family: the "Bribri", the "Ngwobe", popularly called "Guaymí", the "Buglé" or "Bokota", the "Tiribie" commonly called "Teribe", and an important group the "Tule" or "Kuna".  Two other groups, the "Wounaan" and "Emberá" are identified by their languages.  They originated from the Chocó region and therefore were popularly named "Chocó".

The BRIBRI Culture.

The Bribri live in the province of Bocas del Toro near the Sixaola River and its tributary the Yorkin River.  They are a small branch of the Talamanca tribe and during this century have crossed the border from Costa Rica where they are a larger group.  They came to Panamá to work in the banana plantations.  Their number is around 500.

They inhabit the province of Bocas del Toro, in the forests bordering the Teribe River, a larger tributary of the Río Changuinola.  Close to 1,500 individuals, they specialize in carving pirogues.  They hunt and farm but are quite isolated since their area of habitat is of difficult access.  In their own language they refer to themselves as "Naso people".

The Buglé (Bokota) live on the Atlantic coast of the Bocas del Toro province near the Calovebora River.  Their intermarriages with the Ngwobe tend to assimilate both cultures, many of their traditions having been lost in the process.  However, they differ slightly from the Ngwobe in physical aspect, being smaller, and have different housing.  They love music and play various instruments.  They number some 4,000.

They are close to 125,000 strong and are one of the most rapidly increasing tribal populations of the Americas.  They live in the mountainous region and portions of the lower slopes of the westernmost provinces of Panamá: Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro and Veraguas.  Their land is an area of approximately 2,500 squares miles; half of it is arable.
 

Farmers and hunters, they have kept their religious, social organization and traditions but are a dispersed population.  They live in separated communities and speak at least five different languages.  The Ngwobe may have as many wives as he can afford to maintain.  The tribe chief is called SIGUIA and acts as priest, fortuneteller and healer.  Once a year they hold a general congress during which they practice "la Balsería", a dance that coincides with the harvest of maize and peach palm (pixbae).

The government recently approved the demarcation of the "Comarca Ngwobe-Buglé" or district that will include Ngwobe, Buglé and Teribe and whose limits will be prohibited to non-Indians farmers.  The legislation presented to Panamá's Nation Assembly in the mid-eighties failed to succeed because of strong opposition from local landlords and political maneuvers over boundaries, but was finally sanctioned in 1997.

Near the town of Tolé, in the Chiriquí province, the Ngwobe have set up small shacks along the Pan-American Highway to sell their handicrafts: colorful dresses and the Chaquira, a necklace worn by men and woven with strings of fine beads.

They number around 20,000 for the Emberá and 3,000 the Wounaan.   Their traditional home-land is the frontier zone of Panamá and Colombia and the Pacific coast.  They live in the Darién province, disseminated over 16,000 square kilometers in small isolated hamlets, often consisting of several brothers and cousins.  They grow agricultural products, especially plantains, their main source of income which they trade along the Darién rivers.  They are typical forest farmers.
 

Both the Emberá and Wounaan are famous for their fine basket making and show true artistic qualities in carving jungle animals of all kinds and sizes or ritual sticks out of a dense, dark wood called Cocobolo.  The Wounaan are master artisans in the media of Tagua and Cocobolo wood.  Tagua, also called Vegetable ivory or ivory nut, is the seed of several kinds of palms that grow in tropical rainforests.    The Wounaan women make pottery very similar to pre-Columbian pottery found by archaeologists.  Unfortunately, because they are becoming more urban and marry often outside the community, much of their culture, transmitted orally, is disappearing  but a great effort is being made to rescue traditions.

The important group of Tule or Kuna number 55,000 and live in the San Blas Archipelago and in the Darién province along the upper Chucunaque and Bayano rivers and on the Atlantic coast.  The Kuna have a unique political and social organization.  Everything, land included, is owned by the community over which the chief (Sahila) rules.  The communities vary in size, from 50 to 2,500 people.  They hold a general congress twice a year to discuss community matters and to elect the three Sahilas or Caciques.  The Nelé is the seer, wise and medicine man.  They are the only native American population  to administrate their "comarca" , ruled as an autonomous region by charter.

In 1925, upset by permanent and incessant government attempts to assimilate them, several Kuna communities rebelled, killed the police force stationed in the islands and seceded from Government authority after proclaiming their territory the Republic of Tulé while the American Navy patrolled in the Archipelago waters without intervening.  The Tulé finally reintegrated into the Republic which granted them, in 1938, a status of autonomous territory.

It is a strong endogenous society where marriage outside the Tulé race is forbidden and the sinners expelled.  They are animists and worship a pantheon of gods identified with all forms of nature: the sky, waters and forests, and for that reason have become strong defenders of the environment.  The women wear large gold earrings and nose ring and dress colorfully with blouses made of "molas", appliquéd cotton panels, and maxi skirts.  The Kuna live on tourism, operate their own hotels and their Mola handicrafts are almost an industry.  The men fish, grow agricultural products on the mainland and coconuts on the outer, deserted islands.  Not only have the Kuna preserved their culture and customs but have managed to engage in modern life as an active respected group.  Many members of the community are painters, poets, artists, and intellectuals graduated from the best international universities.

The Indian society in general has an important place in the life of the nation in which they participate at many communal and government levels, even in the National Assembly.  But in spite of all efforts, populations like the Teribe, Buglé, and Bribri are on the edge of extinction or assimilation into the Panamanian social structure.

Where do babies come from?

(From a Kuna schoolbook).

Child:      Where did I come from?

               Mama, is it true the dolphin brought me?

               My brother and sister, too?

Mother:    Yes, the dolphin brought you.

Child:       Mama, did the dolphin put me in the sand?

Mother:    If I hadn't picked you up, somebody else would have.

Child:       Who would have been my father or mother then, I wonder?

As one young mother explains, "Kuna children believe the dolphins brought them. 

When they see a dolphin, they say to their mothers, why don't you ask the dolphin to bring you a baby? 

I say, no, I don't want another baby.

      The Art of being Kunas

(Courtesy of "Getting to know PANAMA", Michèle Labrut, Focus Publications, 1997).