Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca

Ngäbe-Buglé (Spanish: [ˈŋɡoβe βuˈɣle]) is the largest and most populous of Panama's five comarcas indígenas. It was created in 1997 from lands formerly belonging to the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, and Veraguas. The capital is known as Buäbiti in Guaymí and Llano Tugrí in Spanish.

Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca is sub-divided into 3 sub-regions, 9 districts and 70 corregimientos:

Starting in 1972, the Panamanian government was required to establish comarcas, demarcated regions in which Indigenous groups possess exclusive land rights and considerable administrative autonomy. Within comarcas, people elect a General assembly, governor, and any number of regional and local leaders, although the government still controls public expenditure and tax revenues within the territory. The comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, located in north western Panama, was formed in 1997 both as a latent result of government promise and of considerable political pressure from the Ngäbe-Buglé, united by threats of natural resource exploitation and environmental degradation on their ancestral lands. The territory is made up of land previously belonging to the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, and Veraguas, and divided into seven districts (listed above with capitals); the capital of the entire comarca is Büäbti, located in the Müna district. As the Ngäbe-Buglé population tends to identify more with their communities than with an ethnicity and is distributed rather unevenly, the political organization that prompted the formation of their comarca is fairly unusual, but nonetheless demonstrates a powerful capacity to influence government actions.

Ngäbe-Buglé comarca is characterized by mountainous terrain, steep slopes and generally nutrient poor soil with high rock content, all characteristics that make farming difficult. On the Caribbean slope there is no dry season and tropical forest dominates the landscape; on the Pacific slope there is a windy dry season (December to April) and a wet season. As a result of greater seasonal variation, there are more localized geographies on the Pacific slope and vegetation consists of grasses mixed with tropical forest cover. Small perennial streams and larger rivers run on both sides of the continental divide and are used for bathing, laundry, and drinking. In the region most travel is done on foot or horseback as there are few year-round access roads leading into the comarca (the first ever starting out as a mine access road that runs up to Buäbti and continues to Escopeta, the location of the Cerro Colorado mine) from San Felix, a city connected to the interamericana highway via Las Cruces.

Although closely associated and collectively referred to as the Guaymí, their colonial name, the name Ngäbe-Buglé is now preferred. The Ngäbe and Buglé are two separate linguistic/Indigenous groups whose languages are mutually unintelligible. The larger group, the Ngäbe, speak Ngäbere, while the smaller group, the Buglé, speak Buglére; both are members of the Chibchan language family. Collectively, these two groups make up the largest Indigenous population in Panama. Note the difference in spelling of Ngäbe and Ngöbe; the two variations depend on local dialects. The vowel low-back-rounded sound indicated by ä does not exist in Spanish and is confused with "o". (Since newspapers know the vowel should have a dieresis on it they often misspell it as "ö".) The sound represented by "ä" is virtually similar to the sound "aw" in the word "saw". The spelling Ngäbe, used here, is the more widely spread (/correct) spelling in Ngäbere.

The Guaymí generally live in houses supported by sticks with a grass or zinc roof and dirt floor, wealthier families may have a cement floor. In each house a platform under the roof is used for food storage and there are a number of raised bed platforms.

Chácaras (called kra in Ngäbere), are sturdy bags made from plant fibers. They are used both as storage units and to transport materials. Occasionally you can even see infants being transported in a chácara. Some women also make these bags to sell so they may participate in the informal economy.

Families have a few large cooking pots called pailas and many keep chicha, a corn drink, in the house.