I arrived in Panama last evening. I am on my way to the Ngäbe Buglé Comarca to meet with Coordinadora de Mujeres, the National Coordinating Body of more than 120,000 Ngabe Bugle Women. TheIr Council of Indigenous Women are elected at a General Council of 7000 representatives of Ngale Bugle Women.
We first had a meeting with their Women's National Coordinating Organization at the First Intergenerational Indigenous Women's Summit of Panama at the City of Knowledge in November, 2015.
This November, 2016, The Ngule Bugle Coordinadora de Mujeres have graciously offered to host the 2nd Intergenerational Indigenous Women's Summit of Panama. Fundacion Cuatro Mundos has kindly been invited to be a Co-Sponsor.
On the 7th of March there will be a meeting of Indigenous Leaders from Panama, Bolivia, and other Indigenous Leaders from various Nation States across Latin AmerIca. The Reunion of the Condor , Quetzal and Eagle is rapidly manifesting!
A van full of our new Four Worlds Panama Board of Directors are joining me on this trip to have meetings in various Ngule Bugle communities! Everyone is excited!
The new Board of Directors of our NGO, Four Worlds Panama, has 11 members. They represent all Seven Indigenous Nations of Panama and all are 35 and under.Six young Women and Five young men. They are guided by an Elder Advisory Board.
All Board members speak their own Indigenous languages and practice their Indigenous Cultures and Dances!They operate by the Principles of Consultation, Talking Circles and non-political, non-partisan electoral processes.
The largest Indigenous Nation in Panama, the Ngäbe- Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro. The Ngäbe also have five indigenous territories in southwestern Costa Rica encompassing 23,600 hectares. Coto Brus, Abrojos Montezuma, Conte Burica, Altos de San Antonio and Guaymí de Osa. There are approximately 200,000-250,000 speakers of Ngäbere today.
The Ngäbe- Buglé are fierce defenders of Mother Earth and have shut down all the main roads of Panama with public support of the Peoples of Panama to stop environmentally harmful Extraction and Hydro projects. While community members were killed and wounded by the Panamanian Military, they their ground, with only rocks to defend themselves and the end were victorious.
Along with an overall Indigenous Community of more 400,000 that still speak their Indigenous Languages, It is also estimated that more 65% of the overall population of Panama have Indigenous background!
