I spent 11 days in total with them, visiting 3 different villages to find the Embera Indians living in Panama. Whatever they drank, I ate and drank the same, stayed at the parents’ houses.. There is no transportation to the villages by any land vehicle.. Some had to walk for hours after going by boats.. Although it was a grueling 11 days, it was worth all the difficulties for my experience.
As these villages in the Darien region of Panama are autonomous places, you cannot go without a guide.. There are three different troop checks until you get to the area, and they all ask if you have a permit to enter this area.. Since they know the guide, I went through all of them without any problems.. After visiting with a guide for 3 days, I wanted to hang out without a guide for the next days.. I went to the nearest military unit and showed someone I was staying at as my new guide.. Of course, it wasn’t because I showed it.. That person went to the union and signed, saying yes, this man is with me, and I spent 8 more days with the locals.. And what they said; I was the only one left there without a guide so far. When you leave the region, you have to go to the military unit and say that you are leaving here.. On the way back to Panama City, there are military controls again.. And they compare the day you first entered that area with the last day and note that this guy entered and exited.
The village of Mouge, which is the center and the biggest of these villages, which is a little bit next to the rainforest, is more developed than the others.. Llana Bonita village is the most beautiful village I have ever seen, with fruit trees, houses, stream and people all around.. The old people of the village say that until 20-25 years ago, leopards and jaguars came to the houses to feed their stomachs.. Nowadays, if you’re lucky, you still have the chance to see these animals in the forest.. The largest of the three villages I was in had about 70 houses, and the smallest had 10 houses.
Embera women usually walk naked from the waist up, but the Panamanian government no longer likes it, they say wear something. They slowly started to dress for. Men, on the other hand, used to be as you can see in the photo below, but now they all wear normal clothes.. Electricity in these villages far from technology is met only by solar energy.. There is no running water from the fountain in the houses.. They meet almost all water-related needs, including the bathroom, from the stream.. For toilets, although there are areas surrounded by wood and oilcloths outside the houses, I did not see a single person use those toilets during the 11 days I stayed with them.. I couldn’t figure out exactly where they go to their toilets.. When I asked the school teachers in the villages about this situation, what they said in general was that they were doing it by the creek.. The Panamanian government has recently built schools in all three villages and is actively providing education.
The religious beliefs of the Embera Indians, who speak Spanish as well as their own language, Evangelism /Christianity. While I was there I only saw them meet at church once a week and a woman preach and cry. Afterwards, the children sang hymns and songs to the church.. Don’t mind what I call the church, it was a place that was just surrounded on 3 sides.
Another interesting issue is that NASA astronauts used to go to Embera to learn how to live in the forest or similar conditions in a group. received special training from the leaders in his village. It is quite possible to understand why they chose the Embera natives for this training by reading the story I shared with the village leader, whom I shared earlier.
Embera natives are male-female, child-elderly. they are tattooing their body temporarily regardless. Although they say that it is traditional for its primary reasons, renews the skin and protects it from mosquitoes, it is another fact that it has been made for touristic purposes recently.. In order to make this temporary tattoo, they obtain the natural dye from an onion-like vegetable/fruit.. It is possible to see a guest or neighbor at home at every meal.. In the 11 days I spent with them, I never once heard anyone shouting or talking loudly to the other.. Even though I stayed in the house of 3 different families, I went to the school teacher and asked about this situation, as it caught my attention how could I live so calmly and not have the slightest argument, including children and parents.. The teacher who lived with them for 6 months said the same thing.. Let alone domestic violence or a fight, he hasn’t heard anyone shouting at the other either.. This may be another reason why NASA chose Embera natives for training.
Houses are almost open all over. There is no such thing as a separate room or private life.. Well, when I asked how do you meet their sexual needs, they said that they do their work under the houses in the evening, they take care of their sexual needs and childbearing very quickly.. In some houses I visited, I saw that girls aged 16-17 have children, but they have never been married and have no wives.
Even though they are still hunters, their main food source is the ones they plant and harvest in the forest. rice. I used to know Samsun/Terme rice as the best rice, but after I ate this forest rice, I changed my mind.. In fact, this mountain rice, which I ate together with a rabbit-like game meat at the house I stayed in Llana Bonito village, is the most delicious meal I have ever eaten.. All men and women work from 7 am to 5 pm to cultivate, mow and process this rice and make it ready for cooking.. Going to the forest and working is not an easy task in that hot weather.. In addition to these, they also make handicraft products to sell to the tourists who come once a month or to earn money by sending them to Panama City.
Embera children super sweet and friendly. A boon for someone like me who is into photography.. In case you go there, make sure you have something like chocolate or candy with you to give to the children.. Also, “Did a memo come here?” If you ask, almost all of them will remember me.
The village people go to bed early and get up early.. It’s hard to see someone sleeping when it’s light. They can eat fried fish for breakfast and eggs for dinner.. I can say that although their food culture is different for us, they are very well fed.. Since children are almost always naked until the age of 5-6, their bodies are immune to diseases, they do not get sick easily.
Because the houses are always wooden, all kinds of insects, possible to see reptile or rodent. Since children have grown up with these animals, they can take the spider as big as my hand and play with it.. They have no concept of being afraid or disgusted with insects.. There is no bed in their house. In the evening, they lay something like a blanket on the ground and cover it with a few sheets like a mosquito net.. And another detail is that they sleep without using a pillow.
Middle-aged and above are illiterate. Children, on the other hand, can receive education because they go to school.. When I ask if they know Turkey, they say is it somewhere in the USA or in Colombia?. Only a 20-year-old said he knew Turkey thanks to Arda Turan.. He always watched European matches when he went to the city center, he knows from there.. It is a good example that football is not just football.
Of 5-6 different ethnic groups that I can say are natives I have visited in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, Embera Indians are the friendliest and most friendly. were the ones. They neither asked for money to be photographed nor for the food they gave when they were invited to their home.. In fact, the family I stayed at home for 6 nights did not even ask me for bed and food.. But of course, I still gave whatever it was in return.. If they say, I would say Embera Indians without thinking about which indigenous group you would like to visit again.
Probably not for the Embera Indians who lived in much more primitive conditions 10 years ago, but for 10 years, 5 years Even then, I think their lives will become more modern and their culture, which has already begun to disappear, will disappear even more.. Young people migrated to big cities and started to work in constructions, and villages are becoming touristic places day by day.
Considering that even NASA astronauts came here and took life lessons from the Embera natives, I spent 11 years here. At the end of the day, I can easily say that the only things I have left are the photos and videos I took.
I tried to explain what I did during my visit to the Embera Indians living in the Darien region of Panama, in videos as much as I could.. You can watch the first episode of this 3-part series below, and click the links for other episodes.
Episode 2
Episode 3