Guaymi or Ngäbe-Buglé

This indian ethnicity was formerly (or better) known as Guaymi indians and so is how they were referred to in school books until some years ago. The Guaymi are really the Ngá-Buglá but since their ethnic name sounds as Guaymiri in their language that is how they ended up being referred to as Guaymi.

The Ngä-Buglá are actually two ethnic groups speaking a different language, the Ngäbe speak Ngabere and the Bugles speak Buglere. Both languages however are part of the Chibchan family of languages. In some texts the actual Ngáabe etnia name is misspelled or mispronounced as Ngö so therefore I use them interchangeably in this site.

Once fierce warriors, the Guaymi are nowadays very peaceful people who by tradition have lived secluded in the highlands of Panama. When the Spanish began the exploration of the new world -in particular Panama- they found Guaymi indians in the provinces of Cocle, Panama and the Azuero Peninsula in addition to where they are nowadays.

Back then there were famous Guaymi warrior chiefs such as Nata in the Coclé region,

Parita

These were warriors so fierce that the Spanish avoided them as much as they could and in fact Urraca defeated the Spaniars many times. He was also taken prisoner but managed to escape and vowed to unleash his wrath upon the Spaniards. Chief Urracá died a free man in the year 1531.

It is ironic that our own great indigenous chief only managed to be placed in the face of the one cent coin while Vasco Nuñez de Balboa is depicted on the 25 cent coin. But well, Panama has usually been characterized for not appreciating his own.

If you visit the town of El Valle de Anton in Cocle on Sundays you can see some Guaymi indians who come down from their remote mountain locations to sell their artisanal crafts in the market. In towns such as Boquete, Chiriqui you can also appreciate many Guaymis.

Most of the Guaymi or Ngobe-Bugle population however is concentrated in the western part of Panama. For that reason in 1997 the Ngä-Buglé reservation (comarca) was officially created. This comarca was created by parts of the provinces of Chiriqui, Veraguas and Bocas del Toro. As a result these provinces have seen their area reduced but for a good cause.

This great nucleus of Ngobe-Bugle is concentrated on the highlands of these three provinces which are amongst the highest places in Panama. Because of this natural obstacle -the continental divide- there are differences between those on the northern side of the cordillera (Bocas del Toro) and those on the southern (Chiriqui) part.

The Ngobe-Bugle wear very colourful dresses and are not nearly naked (like Embera) for obvious reasons, it is cold up there in the mountains!. The men used to wear the traditional chaquiras which are colourful beads which were mentioned in European literatures in the 1700's. If you travel to Chiriqui by car you can see on the panamerican highways both Guaymi dresses and very nice chaquira adornments being sold at the edge of the highway.

Nowadays the Guaymí community is also receiving a lot of help from catholic missions such as the St. Augustin missionaries in Tole.

In addition to their chaquira beaded ornaments they are also well known for the colourful chacaras. These are strong bags made of tree fiber which they use for carrying stuff. This is very similar to the "chacaras" used in the Azuero peninsula.