Visiting an Embera Indian Village

One of the most popular blogs I’ve written has been about visiting the Embera, one of the seven indigenous groups remaining in Panama. If you have the opportunity, this is a “must do” in Panama. Many of the cruise ships offer trips to various Embera villages, some more “authentic” than others, each with some of their own unique traditions. And, if you live in Panama or are visiting for a longer period, you can make the trip on your own.

No trip to Panama is complete without the adventure of visiting the Embera Puru village at San Juan! It amazes me that most Panamanians have not made this trip and know nothing about this group of indigenous people who live very much the way they did when Columbus arrived. They are intelligent and articulate people who are struggling to preserve a way of life that is threatened on all sides.

Civilization has encroached again and again on the Embera. The Embera are closely related to the Wounaan, but with different languages. In all of Panama some estimate that there are less than 30,000 remaining. The folks of the Embera Puru live in the Chagres National Park. Great, we’re all for national parks, but the Embera have had to pay the cost of the creation of the park. Since 1984, these Emberá have had to abandon agriculture as a way of eking out an existence due to park regulations. They were virtually starving when they turned to tourism as a form of communal income. The Embera Puru community of San Juan, with only 123 people, is the least touristy of the Embera villages, probably because it is a little more difficult to reach, but these are wonderful people, warm, hospitable and anxious to share. It is well worth a visit!

Passengers on cruise ships stopping in Panama often have the opportunity of visiting an Embera village. There are five or six Embera villages that are used, and no two are exactly alike.  Each village has its own traditions, and some are a little more “touristy” than others.  The decision of which village to visit is made by the Embera chiefs, to spread the business around, and there is no way of knowing in advance if you are on a ship which village you will be visiting.  But regardless of which village you visit, you will have a fascinating glimpse of Embera life and it will be a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience.

My favorite village is the home of my friends and is the village at San Juan de Pequini, a fairly long bus ride and  then an hour ride by dug out canoe. This is an authentic Embera village that may see 2 or 3 groups of visitors a month.  You can make the journey yourself. From Panama City you take the road to Colon, outside the city past where Corridor Norte intersects the road to Colon, you turn off to the tiny village of Nuevo Vigia, on Lago Alajue or Madden Lake. From here you take a dug out canoe across the lake and up the river for a spectacular 1.5 hour trip. On our most recent trip we saw amazing birds, turtles, even a monkey and a huge alligator!

Anne Barrigon [http://www.emberavillagetours.com/] does conduct independent tours to the authentic Embera Indian village at Rio San Juan de Pequini. You can contact Anne directly for information. Hers is an interesting story. In 1956 five missionaries were killed in Equador and their story was immortalized in a book written by the wife of one of the martyred missionaries called, “THROUGH GATES OF SPENDOR.” In 2004 a Christian movie company decided to make a movie about that story and used the Embera village of Rio San Juan de Pequini as a setting for filming, using the Embera to play the role of the Ecuadorian Indians. The movie was eventually released in 2006 as “THE END OF THE SPEAR.” Anne Barrigon worked on the film . . . and ended up falling in love with and later marrying one of the Embera men.

And and her husband live in Panama City and she conducts tours to the village. Prices depend on the number of participants, but for 6 to 8 people run around $75-80 per person.

I recommend getting to Nuevo Vigia about 9:00am which will put you back about 4:00pm. The Embera have spectacular baskets and carvings that they offer for sale at the village. Tourist money is pooled and this is the only way the Embera can survive since the park does not allow them to grow food. You will be amazed to learn of the many plants the Embera use for natural healing and to hear the stories of modern pharmaceutical companies who have visited to learn the secrets of jungle plants.