Panamaishometoavastamountofculturesastheyarehometoindigenouspeopleand

thevarietyofethnicitieswhohavemigratedandexpandedthere.Asthecountryisanattraction
forbusinessandleisuretrips,therehasbeenquiteamixofpeopleandtheirtraditions.The
Spanishfirstwiththeirsettlements,slavesbeingbroughtfromtheAfricanandtheWestIndies,
Americans,Europeans,andAsianshavecomeeitherpassingbyorsettlingespeciallyafterthe
buildingofthePanamaCanal.Thoughtherearelawsforfreedomofexpressioninrelationsto
culture,therearestillsomeculturalelementsdwindlinginmanyofthecommunities.
Theculturethatispurestandrichisthatoftheindigenouspeopleastheyarethefirst
inhabitantsoftheland.Panamahassevenindigenousgroupsstillaround:TheKuna,Ngobe,
Bugle,Embera,Wounaan,Talamanca,Bokata,Teribe,andCricamola,whichmakeabout8%of
thetotalpopulation.Manyofthetribesdependonandcherishthenatureoftheforest.Manyare
wellknownforthecraftworkwiththetreesandplantssuchashandwovenbasketswhichthey
dyewithnaturalvegetabledyeandcarvingsincocobolowood.Shamans,alsoknownas
medicinemen,haveamazingknowledgeoftheforestsandjunglessurroundingthemastheycan
determinewhichplantshouldbeusedformedicinaluse.(AdventureToursPanama,2015)As
tribesliketheEmberaandWounaanareknownashuntersgatherstheyareheavilydependenton
theoutdoors.Thenatureoftheforestsarealmostdetrimentaltothecultureoftheindigenous
peoplebutitissadlybeinglostduetodeforestationandsoildepletion.Manyhavestopped
huntingastheyarenowforcedtosurviveonfarmingbutthattooisbeingscarceduetolimited
rootcropsandmaize.Fishingwasusedbeforeandisstillusednow;hopefully,therewontbe
anyoverfishingproblemsinthenearfuture.(NativePlanet,accessed2015)

Land Use Change (Environmental Research Web, 2011) Above is a map

showing the uses of land in Panama. It lists the areas of deforestation to
give you an idea of where land is being overused.

Religionhasplayedabigpartintheindigenouscultureastheconquistadorsraidedand
controlledmanyoftheircommunitiesstartinginthe1500s.Christianitywasintroducedtothe
PanamafromtheSpanishconquistadorsandhasstuckaroundandbroadenedacrossthecountry.
InplaceslikeDarien,wherethemajorityinrelationstoreligionareChristians.Manyofthe
Christianshavetriedtocivilizetheindigenouspeoplebyattemptingerasetheircultureandhave
themembracetheirs.Theybegantoforcethemtodressdifferentlythantheirtraditionaldress,
takeawaytheuseoftraditionalmedicines,dances,music,andspiritualcelebrations.Thepush
tookawayindigenousfollowersfromChristianity.Luckily,theChristianspushforconformity

didntstickasmanykeeptheircultureintactasthechurchesarenowbeingmoretolerantof
theirtraditionstokeepthemcoming.TheKunaismainlyaffectedbythisastheynowselect
whattraditionstofollowfromthechurchesandrejectothersthattakeawaymajorlyfromthe
culture.InsomeEmberaandWounaancommunities,italsoaffectsbutatamuchlesserextent.
Manyhavejustdecidedtochooseachurchthatismoreflexibleandopen.Unfortunately,there
arestillafewchurchesthatforbidthecustomsoftheindigenouspeopleandhavemanagedto
convertedafewtoabandontheircultureforcompleteChristianity.Manyofthesearepushing
thevillagespreservingtheirculturetoconvertcausingsomevillagestodividethemselvesin
ordertokeeppeace.(NativePlanet,accessed2015)

Indigenous People of Panama (Panama Travel Unlimited, 2010) Here is

map including the areas in which the indigenous communities reside as
well as the territories of Panama they reside within.
Panamalegallyrecognizesthesovereigntyofsevenindigenousgroups.Theywerethe
firstLatinAmericangovernmenttorecognizesovereigntyrightsforindigenouspeople.Thereis
now22%ofnationalterritorydesignatedreservesforindigenouspeople.(Maffi,2010)Withthe

sovereignty,someculturaldiversityshouldbepreservedtopassontotheupcominggenerations.
Hopefullywithinthetimenow,therecanberestorationwithintheseculturesaswell.

References
(2011,May1).RetrievedAugust7,2015,fromhttp://panamatravelunlimited.com/wp
content/uploads/2011/05/panamamap4630jpg.jpg
AdventureToursPanama.(n.d.).RetrievedAugust7,2015,from
http://www.adventuretourspanama.com/attractions/indigenouscultures/indigenous
groupsofpanama.html
Anscombe,N.(2011,May11).DevelopingcountriesurgentlyneedbetterREDDdata.Retrieved
August7,2015,fromhttp://images.iop.org/objects/erw/news/6/5/15/land1.jpg
Maffi,L.,&Woodley,E.(2010).Fillingthegapsandconnectingthedots.InBiocultural
diversityconservation:Aglobalsourcebook(p.179).London:Earthscan.
TheEmberaandWaounanIndigenousPeopleofPanamaandColombia.(n.d.).RetrievedAugust
7,2015,fromhttp://www.nativeplanet.org/indigenous/embera/