the Emberá day tour

Still trying to fill every moment of my spare time, as the clock ticks down on my contract here in Panama, I managed to grab a last-minute space on a day trip to an Emberá village.

The Emberá are one of seven indigenous tribes in Panama, all largely looked down upon and discriminated against by those of Spanish/mixed descent - considered 'primitive' and uneducated.  It's probably true that most of them are uneducated, at least in the subjects covered by the national curriculum, although they all speak at least two languages (Spanish as well as their indigenous language) and have an in-depth knowledge of the rainforest where they live - including which plants to use to heal infertility, diarrhoea, diabetes, etc.  They do go to school, but many leave at 12, as the government has not provided them with schools of higher grades.  & primitive?  Well, their villages are not accessible by road, but only by boat, the area where they live has no electricity and negligible phone coverage (and so no internet), so their lifestyles are certainly different from those of the 'civilised' world.

The Emberá traditionally live off what they can gather, hunt or fish, with a few other products purchased in occasional trips into town, financed by the sale of their own produce.  Previously they all lived in the Darién, both on the Panamanian and Colombian sides, but with a trip to town taking them several days, some migrated, around fifty or sixty years ago to what is now the Chagres National Park - much closer to Panama City and thus more accessible.  When the area was declared a National Park they were allowed to remain, but were forbidden from hunting, and of course from chopping down any forest in order to plant crops.  They have now introduced chickens to their small villages, and perhaps the odd bit of illicit hunting still takes place (one man told me they still eat iguanas during festivals), but the restrictions of the National Park make it harder for them to survive.  So some of the villages have opened themselves up to tourism, as a useful source of revenue.

What the tourists see is not that different from the day-to-day reality, the only difference being that they wear their jewellery, and sometimes a crown of flowers, on days when tourists are coming (none will come unexpectedly given that they have to take a dug-out canoe 45 minutes along the river to collect you from the nearest road access), and in the afternoon they do a quick traditional dance display.

This man in the photo, for example, had put on his jewellery for our visit, but the body coloration and the loin cloth are his normal 'attire'. The coloration is from a berry of the genip tree, an extract of which is painted onto the body and allowed to dry, leaving its mark for some two weeks.  It protects from the sun and apparently repels mosquitoes as well as being decorative.  I think everyone I saw in the village had some degree of body coloration (known by some as jagua tattoos), and they will happily apply it to visiting tourists.  Although mine got splashed in the boat coming back, so I will have a nice blue splodge on my arm for the next two weeks...

This woman working in her kitchen is not dressed up for the tourists (but is still photogenic!)

whilst the woman on the right has her best jewellery on for the visitors.

Children also join in the fun:

The visitor fee allows you to roam around, ask questions if your Spanish is good enough, and take as many photos as you like.  Revenue is split between the families in the village.  It does feel touristy, but is still a very interesting visit and the money paid enables the Emberá to continue their traditional lifestyle.  I heard that those who try to move to the town and cities can only get basic work, at the minimum wage, and so can only afford to live in the poorest areas where the drugs, gangs and violence is endemic.  So most choose to go back to their peaceful, rural, lifestyle with their family and community.  'Primitive' or not.