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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE March 12, 2008
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| November 26, 2007 |
Cristobal, Panama - Between Two Worlds: Meeting the Embera People of Panama |
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| Participants were excited by the possibility of meeting with Embera people who have managed to maintain the same kind of lifestyle their ancestors lived thousands of years ago |
When participants were briefed about the tribe of indigenous people they would be visiting in Panama, it sounded like something out of an Anthropology textbook: a community of people living in the jungle who practice animistic religion, wear loincloths and live in wooden huts without electricity. A bus ride to the outskirts of the city of Colon followed by a boat ride along a murky river surrounded by dense jungle led participants to the fringes of a national park where a small tribe of Embera people call home. Despite the pressures of modernization and all the conveniences that come with it, they live much the same way that they have for thousands of years. |
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| Embera men welcome participants into their community which is relatively isolated and only accessible by boat |
The Embera are one of seven indigenous groups left in Panama, which make up about 10 percent, or 300,000, of the population. Like the other tribes, they have managed to retain their own unique language and culture, and use Spanish as a common language. Because Panama is a multicultural society, with its population made up of mixes of Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans, the indigenous people face less discrimination as they do in other nations. However, they have few protected rights. Originally from Darien Province near the border with Colombia where that country’s ongoing civil war is being played out, small populations of Embera have been forced to migrate due to guerrilla warfare taking place there. The destruction of their homeland by farmers, loggers and ranchers also spurred them to relocate. |
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| The women perform a traditional dance used for important ceremonies |
As participants walked ashore to the isolated community and into the communal meeting house, a circular wooden structure with a thatched roof, they were welcomed by a troupe of men blowing flutes and banging drums. The Embera were dressed traditionally in colorful loincloths for males and loincloths and breastplates made from silver coins for the females. Their naked flesh was stained with juice from jaguar fruit which, found deep in the jungle, is a natural insect repellent. Although this is their traditional dress, it is usually reserved for special occasions as they now prefer to wear simple shorts and t-shirts. Participants were then shown a traditional ceremonial dance in which the women jump around in a circle, crouching. |
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| Volunteer GET teacher Megumi Takahashi Johns holds up an example of an Embera basket. These are made by plaiting and weaving thread from trees, and the dyes used to color the threads are completely natural and are extracted from fruit, leaves, roots and bark |
The guide, himself from the tribe, told participants about their way of life as well as their current predicament. Having been forced from their home where they practiced large scale farming and receiving no financial assistance from the government, their livelihood has been compromised. In order to salvage this, they have been selling handicrafts which have been an integral part of their culture. In fact, the Embera women are among the world’s finest basket makers, and are known around the world for their exquisite functional and decorative baskets which are exported to the United States and Europe The money received from selling handicrafts is put towards their children’s education and maintenance of the village. |
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| Women are highly respected in Embera culture and the role of the mother is considered the most important vocation |
Despite the presence of the city of Colon an hour away, the Embera survive by subsistence agriculture (rice and maize), fishing and hunting. They cultivate medicinal plants and each tribe has its own botanist who makes concoctions to heal various kinds of afflictions. However, the Embera are not averse to going to the hospital if the need arises, highlighting how they live traditionally yet take advantage of some aspects of modernization. Carlos is a 15 year old high school student and one of the few members who can speak English. As it began to rain heavily, he looked up longingly to his jeans and t-shirt which were hanging over the rail of his stilted house. |
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| A universal truth: children all over the world love bubbles |
Their religion, which believes in the interconnectivity of all things and promotes respect for the environment means that they practice sustainable, organic agriculture and take care to protect their surroundings. Although their lifestyle is vastly different from most people’s and few would want to give up hot water and an Internet connection to live like that, the participants took away a memorable lesson in the importance of preserving the environment because ultimately, it is only because of its survival that we continue to live. |
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