A Trip To The Village Of The Embera Puru

Spending the day with the Embera puru villagers of Panama is a recommended adventure if you are anywhere near Panama city or Colón. We were fortunate to be staying with locals in Panama City, so we were able to pick up our tour guide and drive ourselves to the boat. Daniel gave us lots of history on the drive to the rural area where a 20 ft dugout canoe along with two of the villagers awaited our arrival. In about 45 minutes up river we arrived to the village.

On our way to the village

Daniel was a great guide and translated for us along the journey. I chose this specific tour after reading the owners website and the fascinating story of how this white lady from Seattle washington became a member of their village, I was really looking forward to meeting her after learning what a brave & carefree woman she was!

This is Anne Gordon Check out her story here

Upon arrival we were greeted by the Embera with music and smiles! They were happy to have us and each member of the tribe has a dedicated position. The children playing in the river ran to tell the tribe our the boats were arriving. They grabbed their instruments and played for us as we entered the village.

Shortly after our arrival we were given a botanical tour by the tribes senior female. Walked us through the village every couple of feet pointing out another herb or botanical used in the village. Some used for medicine, some used for dyes, some used for building their houses & some used for food. It is hard to recall all of them, but some prominent ones that stood out were the achiote, the various palms, coffee, cocoa, wild basil. She even showed us some survival skills on how to eat the palms, but recommended not to try it otherwise!

The Embera have migrated here from the Darien province. I found it interesting that many of them don’t even know how old they are as writing down dates is not common practice. The senior female that lead our botanical tour guessed that she was in her 70’s. The Embera are riverine people & build their villages on river banks. While many still live in the villages. Many have also migrated towards more western culture and live the city. There are approx 85,000 Embera people between Panama & Colombia. They speak their own language Embera, thought various dialects are found throughout. Panama requires all children have at least 6 years of schooling, as a result many of them speak spanish. It is very difficult for them to continue education as you can imagine. Housing and food can be a very large expense. Finding a trustworthy family to ensure the safety of their children is also a concern. Those who are able to leave the village and continue their education are very fortunate. So if you can speak spanish you can interact and conversate with many of the villagers as they learn spanish in school..

The girl in the middle is one of the teachers that has come to teach the embera children. She gave me this beautiful woven flower veil. The girl to the left actually spoke pretty good english as she was very fortunate and went to further her education with some missionary people in the city.

The houses in the village are very traditional open- air habitats about 6-12 feet off the ground. Living on the river bank requires room for the river to rise and lower as the rains come. The floors were made from palm bark & thatched roofing made from palm leaves. To enter the homes ladders were made from logs with cut out notches that allowed climbing. If the notches in the ladder were not facing out, it was a signal that they were not home or busy or trying to keep animals out. The space under the house, is used for shade while doing domestic chores or keeping animals.

They love celebrating occasions, weddings, harvests, the entering and leaving of spirit. when an Embera girl first gets her period is a major celebration. She spends the first 8 days in her own area of the house, where only her mother can attend to her. After the 8 days there is a celebration ceremony as she walks to the river to cleanse her body & spirit. The Embera people of Columbia still practice female genital mutilations, they are the only tribe in Latin America to do so. This was not something practiced in the Embera Puru village. Most of the children were born in the village. There are 2 doula’s & a younger one in training in the village that tend to pregnant women. It is rare that there are complications, but when there are the doula’s will send them in to the city to see a doctor.

Before lunch we got a chance to meet Chief & the head of tourism and hospitality. The tribe leaders are voted into position by the tribe as we learned during his speech. Many of the villagers stepped up to show us and passed around items they create or were working on at the time as well as the various techniques they use. We learned so much about the tribe & we were given lots of opportunity to ask questions.

Fish is a huge part of the Embera diet as you would imagine living on the river. There have been many agricultural challenges and park preservations that force the tribe to grow their crops north of their village. They are not supposed to hunt on the park land, of course they do it anyway. For lunch a couple of the young young village women served us on large hand woven trays with banana banana leaf bowls. They prepared the a flour coated tilapia fried in a vegetable oil with smashed plantains. The fish was cooked perfectly, it was tender and falling off the bone with a nice crunch from the flour coating. No seasoning other than a little salt and light flour. Surprisingly with minimal spice this was the best tilapia I’ve ever eaten. Likely due to the freshness of the fish they caught early in the morning. After our meal we were treated to a large platter of tropical fruits.

After we ate, the villagers treated us to traditional music & dance followed by the children playing soccer. We walked around to view the various hand crafted merchandise. The handmade crafts are truly beautiful! They are truly master artisans, producing beautifully carved, naturally dyed, hand woven crafts. Some woven so tight they can actually hold water. The currency in Panama is equal to the US dollar. They charge according to how many days the item takes to create at the fee of $1 per day. While some of the crafts were quite expensive and could cost easily over $50 for a small vase, they craftsmanship is still undervalued. While I could not bring myself to pay the $50 for the small vase that I would likely have ended up using as a pencil holder. We decided on a beautiful plate that we will be able to utilize in many ways. They are happy to give you a tribal tattoo that washes off. They use jagua fruit that is similar to henna the color is blue / black & washes off in 8-10 days. You will want to bring enough cash to pay for your excursion, tips, and keepsakes. It would be tragic to find something you love and not have the cash to purchase it.

The jagua fruit is shredded wrapped in cloth, soaked in water & squeezed before applying to the skin. It takes about an hour to completely dry, it will rub off on your clothes & into your sheets at night as I learned later on. Just something to be aware of.