Panama\u2019s Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 People: Historical Fighters<\/h4>\n
The Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 People of Panama are not only the most ancient indigenous group of the Isthmus, but they were also the most fearless indigenous group the Spanish conquerors came across! The Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 people were some of the few groups who stood to the Conquest and defied the Spanish. One of their leaders, Cacique Urrac\u00e1, became a true legend among the natives and a complete nightmare for the Spanish, defeating them successfully for 9 years! Urrac\u00e1\u2019s fight became so important that the face of this legendary Indian rebel is still found nowadays featured on the smallest denomination centesimo<\/em> coin in Panama. Nonetheless, as history shows, the Spanish won against the people of the New World and the Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 tribes, just like other tribes, were made to make their way out of their land into the mountains where they were able to safeguard and protect their pre-Columbian traditions and ways of life from the Spanish and later from the world as Panama joined modernity.<\/p>\n The Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9s possess a cultural richness beyond our \u201cWesternized\u201d understanding of the world around us. The Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 people have a profound love to their ancestors; they are brave, loyal and mystical. They love their land and their customs. While some are only now slowly assimilating into modern society, they would give their life away for staying true to their traditions as Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9s.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therealdealtours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/panama_ngabe_buble_indigenous_people2-300x180.jpg\")
Originally the Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9s were two separate indigenous groups of Western Panama, the Guaym\u00ed or Ng\u00e4be and the Bokota or Bugl\u00e9. The Ng\u00e4be speak Ng\u00e4bere and the Bugl\u00e9 speak Bugl\u00e9re, both members of the Chibchan language family. The languages of the Kuna, Bribri and Naso (Teribe) indigenous groups also come from the Chibchan language family. The Ng\u00e4be and the Bugl\u00e9 collectively represent Panama\u2019s largest indigenous group with 200,000 people. Together they share the territory known as Comarca Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9, which is kind of a \u201cnative reserve\u201d, created in 1997 with lands from the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriqu\u00ed and Veraguas after historical fighting from these groups claiming their ancestral right to the land and its resources. The Cerro Colorado copper deposit, one of the largest deposits of copper ore in the world, is located at the Comarca Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9; the excessive exploitation of this mineral and other resources pushed the Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 people to fight in recent past against Panama\u2019s authorities, which actually hit the news and became a big campaign against the violation of human rights.<\/p>\nSustainable Tourism: An Answer Worth Trying<\/h4>\n
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Traditionally subsistence farmers, hunters and gatherers, the Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9s are starting to make their way back to mainstream society to some extent. Nowadays their means for survival are limited and their traditional ways of sustaining their families is becoming harder and harder. Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 men have to look for temporary jobs at coffee plantations or embark to the city in the hope to earn some money. Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 women, as mentioned before, sell their traditional handcrafts to tourists to help out. Yet, some Ng\u00e4be-Bugl\u00e9 communities are exploring a new approach for subsistence: