Documenting Oral History of Development in the Comarca Ngäbé-Buglé, Panama
INSTEAD local coordinator Celestino Mariano gestures towards the Cerro Colorado copper deposit.
Comarca Ngäbé-Buglé, Panama. Photo: Steven Schnoor
This project was suggested by the Congreso General de la Comarca Ngäbé-Buglé, the political governing body of
Panama’s largest indigenous group, the
Ngäbe.
We will be conducting a series of interviews to reconstruct an oral history about developments in the semi-autonomous
indigenous comarca region and about the importance of this land.
The intention is to preserve historic memory for future generations, to help in the creation of an education program
in the comarca with a greater emphasis on Ngäbe history and culture, and to challenge the co-optation of history
by corporations, political parties and the Panamanian state as a means to undermine Ngäbe sovereignty.
