The Ngäbe-Buglé

 Ngäbe-Buglé is a Panamanian region defined as a special political division with a provincial level, considered a historical nationality. It limits to the north with the Caribbean Sea, to the south with the provinces of Chiriquí and Veraguas, to the east with the province of Veraguas and to the west with the provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí, with enclaves in the provinces of Chiriquí and Veraguas.

CUSTOMS

The Ngabe are one of the indigenous peoples with the most robust and current tradition. The use of their language, the women's costume, the El Jegui dance or dance of the Earth Serpent, the traditional game (fight) of the raft and the magical religious beliefs of their worldview, are some of them.

The Ngabe-Buglé generally live in stick houses with a grass or zinc roof and a dirt floor, the houses of the richest families may have cement floors. In each house there is a platform under the roof that is used for food storage and there are several platforms for beds. Chácaras, resistant bags made of vegetable fibers, are used both as storage units and for transporting materials. Sometimes you can even see infants being transported in a chacara. Some women also make these bags to sell thus participating in the informal economy. All families also have a few large kitchen pots called pailas and many keep chicha in the house, a fermented corn drink.

 Ngabe-Buglé men typically wear homemade bell bottoms, straw hats, and rubber boots, while women wear brightly colored dresses with embellished shoulders and neckline and embroidered ribbons around the waist and side. lower, which is called naguas. Women generally don't wear shoes. These items are generally homemade with hand-crank sewing machines and, like chácaras, sold for additional income. The filing of pointed teeth using a file to sharpen machetes is common among Ngabe-Buglé men and women, although the practice is only carried out in more traditional areas. The families are often quite large and the women often live together in large groups so that they can help each other in caring for the children. Social capital and reciprocity networks formed through kinship are important to reduce the vulnerability of economic and social resources, while creating opportunities for families to cooperate and take advantage of greater opportunities to help other members of their group of kinship to get ahead. Marriage and family relationships also play an important role in determining land ownership and use rights.

HANDICRAFTS

The typical Panamanian handicrafts originated in the traditions and cultures of the different indigenous tribes and included the colorful molas, the sculptures of nuts, the woven baskets, the carving of the raft, the cocobolo and the ceramics; and they are hatched from generation to generation. No craft is the same as the other, each one has its special touch and meaning.

In Panama, it is estimated that more than 70 thousand people throughout the Republic depend on the sale of handicrafts. Of these, only very few are enrolled in the programs of the Ministry of Commerce and participate in seminars and training activities.

The Ngabe-Buglé their cargo bags called chácaras are of pre-Columbian origin and in Panama, like hammocks, they remain distinctly indigenous in their making. The area where this craft is still worked is the Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé. The dress of the indigenous woman of the Ngöbe-Buglé region, called «nawa or nagua», has been appreciated in the North American market since the 50s of the last century. His technique is currently being worked on in other applications.

The manufacture of cloth dolls has been confined to the city of Santiago in the province of Veraguas.

The beads of the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous people are made with imported plastic beads bearing the same name. These beads are also used in the adornments of the women of the Guna – Yala region. Nowadays they are applied to a large number of costume jewelery such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc., becoming articles of jewelery.

Meal

I know they feed mainly on corn, beans, bananas, rice, other leaves, squash chayotes, etc. and tubers like otoe, name nampi and yuca. To serve the food they use totumas made from the pumpkins, there are them in different sizes: with the same pumpkins the spoons are made to serve or eat, food is also served in bijao. The drinks that are taken can be based on corn, cane, cocoa, yucca, pixbae, ripe banana, pineapple or other fruits, these are also served in totumas.

 These can be fresh or fermented.

The Ngobe Bugle people eat mostly the vegetables that the land produces, whether they grow them or find them in the forest. In addition, to complement their diet, they consume meat from animals such as deer, painted rabbit beef, saline fish and birds that are raised at home or obtained from the farm.

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