Visiting an Embera Community

An indigenous people of Panama

The Embera represent one of a number of indigenous people in Panama. Historically, the Embera lived in dispersed settlements along the river systems in Panama and Columbia. Over recent decades, many Embera have transitioned to settlement communities and urban areas. We were able to visit one small river community called Embera Quera, a village of 18 families formed almost two decades ago along the Gatun River.

To reach the village, we traveled by motorized dugout canoes, a trip that lasted about a half hour.

Along the river we passed a few other canoes.

The river travels through the lush rainforest of the Panama Canal watershed and into the Gatun Lake.

Around one curve in the river, the village appeared.

The photo of the village (above) shows a very large, open air structure. That is the gathering space for the community. It has a thatched roof and natural floor. We listened to and watched a number of presentations on the history, culture, and traditions of the Embera way of life. During the presentations the children played. This young man was fascinated by the many ways he could fold and manipulate this cardboard.

A few boats were in a small inlet.

Other children busied themselves playing throughout the village including on the boats.

A few of the women worked hard to prepare a very nice meal for us.

We ate tilapia and plantain, presented nicely in a sleeve of leaves from the banana plants.

Heading back afterwards, our group was in one of two long canoes.

Local traffic uses the river to commute

Panama is home to seven distinct indigenous peoples, representing up to 17% of the population of the country. Many of those people live in semi-autonomous regions and many have dispersed to other areas within the country. It was interesting to get a glimpse of one of those indigenous groups while seeing how they live within this ecosystem.