I wrote this for the Panama PCV written and edited triannual magazine. Some references made might be Panama specific, and you might need to translate some Spanish, but I thought it would be an interesting Panamanian perspective.
The Indigenous Perception
I walk through the streets of Panama and often I don’t feel
very Panamanian. It might be my
blondish hair, light freckled skin, and blue eyes like a muñeca. That can’t be it, because when I don a nagua and hike the hills of the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle I feel like I
could be painted into the environment. My close friends and neighbors don’t
stare anymore. I’ve morphed into not
one of them, but this weird creature who they’ve all come to accept. Yet I must
grip every culture of Panama, as part of my holistic experience here.
The indigenous and non-indigenous relationship is complex in
every formerly colonized or inquired country. The relationship is apparent in
the US. Struggling indigenously identifying groups of Americans are a norm.
Barely culpable latter generations of Americans of European decent offer
criticism but no solutions. How do we get along in the my great-great-great grandfather killed your great-great-great
grandfather and took his land now poverty and genetic disposition have you
jobless and addicted to alcohol but we’re all AM-ericans as I cheer at a Chiefs
or Braves or Blackhawks sporting event? Somehow we sleep.
It’s different in Panama, but with the same undercurrent.
What are camposinos in northern Coclé
but indigenous who have forgotten their dialecto?
The dark skin is the give-away that everyone in Panama is but a few generations
removed from being indigenous. Yet Latino
identifying Panamanians are much more progressed in civil development.
After being here for over a half I have encountered Latinos of every school of thought
concerning the indigenous. First, there was the woman seated in the rear of a
car that picked me up to drive down the road to the beach at Juan Hombrón to
meet a friend. The two Panamanians in the front seats and I chatted graciously
during the bumpy ride. Eventually I told them what I did, working with water
and sanitation in the Comarca. That is when my seat partner set into a tirade
about what lazy, disgusting people the indios
were. The government just gives them land, while other Panamanians have to work
for what is theirs. I wanted to give her a quick history lesson about land
rights, but didn’t want to spoil the free ride. She ended with, “Soy racista, no me gustan los
morenos ni indios”.
Not long ago I was in the bus terminal in Chitré with a friend visiting from the
states. We bumped into another volunteer a week away from COSing. I went to use
the restroom and when I walked up to my friend and the volunteer after, I
overheard him telling her about the Guna
Yala and pointing to a woman in a Nägua.
At first I was confused, and then I realized he didn’t know the different in
appearance between the two indigenous groups. Granted, this volunteer worked in
the Azuero – but two years in Panama
and he didn’t know the difference between a fierce looking little Guna woman and a humble Ngäbe?
Finally, during a trip on the Azuero I met a young man who owned a watermelon farm (Sandy the
Sandia he told me) and employed many Ngäbes. He immediately commented on what
hard working people they were and had many stories about how he treats them
fairly and compassionately. I told him what a relief his perspective was for me
to hear, and he reasoned that many Panamanians have forgotten their true
heritage.
Everyone has an opinion about the protests concerning the
mining and hydroelectric projects. Some are sympathetic and say that it is
right for the indigenous to protect their environment. Others think that the
indigenous should take advantage of their fortunate pot-of-goal and use it as
leverage. Still others think they are wild and misbehaved and nothing else.
Of course I have a soft spot for the indigenous because I understand them. I see their struggles
up close. I laugh with them, they are my friends. I shake my head at their
backward behavior and pity the rut that is caused by lack of education. But I
also see their lucha to feed their
children, develop their society and yet preserve their culture. Development has
forced so many indigenous groups around the world to leave their culture
behind. Sustainable development that preserves culture and makes technological
advances is being fleshed out in this moment with us. I hope as the indigenous
here in Panama become increasingly developed they can cultivate their strong
roots and grow respect from their paisanos
and the world.
