Polaroid of the Week: Charming Ngäbe-Buglé Children in Boquete, Panama Highlands
During a hike through the mountains surrounding Boquete in Panama’s Chiriquí province, my companion Jaime and I met these delightful Ngäbe-Buglé children (also known as Guaymí), members of the indigenous group living in the coffee-growing highlands. Panama has a relatively small indigenous population compared to other Central American countries, but the Ngäbe-Buglé form the largest group, accounting for 63% of indigenous peoples.
These children greeted us with bright smiles during our chat, yet the Ngäbe-Buglé have long fought for their rights and lands. The Pan-American Highway bisected their communities, banana plantations encroached on their territories, and they endured harsh working conditions and low wages on northwest Panama’s coffee farms for generations. In 1997, the government established their comarca reservation. Today, they maintain simple lives in basic homes, working mainly on coffee or other crops in relative isolation. Women continue wearing vibrant traditional dresses and preserving centuries-old customs amid a rapidly modernizing world.
