Ngabes for Newbies

Disclaimer: this post is in no way is a 100% accurate historical and culture representation of Ngabe peoples. The information gathered here is a mixture of my own observations, what people of my community tell me, and information I have gathered from literature.

Since I am living in the province of Ngabe Bugle, I wanted to give more insight to what exactly that means. There are two populations in Panama: Latino and indigenous. One of the remarkable things about this tiny isthmus of land joining together North and South America, is that there are SEVEN indigenous groups of people who were here before the Europeans arrived. In most countries of Middle America the arrival of Europeans produced tragic consequences. Arriving explorers and exploiters brought with them fire arms, previously unknown animals like horses and attack dogs, and diseases to which the indigenous had no immunity. Additionally many of the Spanish conquistadors enslaved indigenous people to use as workers. Despite the brutal history, it is truly remarkable that Panama still has seven living indigenous cultures that were here before European explorers arrived. The remaining groups are

1.      Kunas

2.      Ngabe

3.      Bugle

4.      Embera

5.      Wounan

6.      Teribes

7.      Bokotas

Starting in 1972, the Panamanian government was required to establish comarcas, demarcated regions in which indigenous groups possess exclusive land rights and considerable administrative autonomy. There are five comarcas for the remaining seven groups. Within comarcas, people elect a General assembly, governor, and any number of regional and local leaders, although the federal government still controls public expenditure and tax revenues within the territory. The comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, (comprised of 2 different indigenous groups, Ngabe and Bugle) located in north western Panama, was formed in 1997 both as a latent result of government promise and of considerable political pressure from the Ngäbe-Buglé, united by threats of natural resource exploitation and environmental degradation on their ancestral lands. The territory is made up of land previously belonging to the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, and Veraguas, and divided into seven districts. The Ngabe are by far the largest indigenous group with somewhere between 200,000-280,000. However, census numbers for indigenous are notoriously inaccurate. As the Ngäbe-Buglé population tends to identify more with their communities than with an ethnicity and is distributed rather unevenly, the political organization that prompted the formation of their comarca is fairly unusual, but nonetheless demonstrates a powerful capacity to influence government actions.

Indigenous people are generally regarded as “second class” within Panamanian society. As subsistence agriculture becomes less and less reliable, Ngabes have started to participate in the cash economy, which provides some relatively accessible alternatives for generating capital and obtaining necessary amenities and resources. Labor is one abundant resource the Ngabes possess, although due to poor education and low human capital including health and nutrition, the labor force is rather unskilled. As a result, many men serve as migrant agricultural workers or leave the comarca to seek other types of informal jobs. Many men work during the coffee harvest in the Chiriqui Highlands. This region of Panama is known for high quality shade grown and in some cases organic coffee. The Ngabes also harvest seasonal vegetables grown at higher altitudes. Women also participate in the informal economy by making chacaras, naguas and jewelry to sell, and some men sew pants or weave hats to do the same.

Wearing a traditional nagua and holding two chacaras

In the area that I live in, selling cocoa is also a main source of income. But in other parts of the comarca, rice is the cash crop.

Also in my area, banana is the staple food. Banana plantations have been large since the 70s in Bocas del Torro and the west end of the comarca. The market continued to boom when Chiquita Banana came in the 90s. When the Europeans came the Ngabe people were pushed into the current Bocas area and were forced to adapt to a different climate and food source. Later when the banana plantations were booming, so many ngobes worked for the plantations. When the comarcas were developed in 1997, the territory was reserved for the people and the Chiquita moved out. But many people had learned banana farming which is why eating boiled bananas is so common. But people do not wait until bananas are ripe. Because of the poverty level and lack of food, people cannot wait until bananas are ripe so are eaten green by boiling them or frying them

The Ngäbe-Buglé experience much adversity as a result of contemporary conditions. As localized problems of land and crop shortage grow into a more generalized issue, and it becomes more difficult to generate capital in a shrinking labor market, malnutrition is prevalent, especially in children and expecting mothers. Attempts to generate capital by becoming a migrant worker also have negative social effects including added strains on family structure and increased pressure on women to provide for their children alone. The dispersed nature of the population also makes existing medical care hard to access, and a general lack of potable water and sanitation services cause a myriad of health problems. Lack of sufficient infrastructure and under provision of social services by the government is often the root of many problems that plague the most rural areas.

Prevalence of poor Spanish skills is also an issue as Ngabe people are often unaware of legal rights and hence either fail to communicate complaints or to use the paths of legal recourse available to them when it would be beneficial to do so. This condition especially affects women because far fewer of them speak Spanish than men. Levels of secondary education are also low in the comarca Ngäbe-Buglé as children are financially limited and transportation to secondary schooling presents a great challenge for many families. As a result, only ~18% of children ages 15–19 in the comarca Ngäbe-Buglé have schooling beyond the sixth grade.

The experience and role of a volunteer in an indigenous site is extremely different than in a Latino site. Venturing into one after being in the other is still a culture shock for me as I almost have to be 2 different people.  Each has its own challenges and strategies and there is a lot to keep in mind as I criss-cross into the two worlds.