The Embera Quera Village

Warm welcome by the locals...

Today our journeys in Panama took us to a place more special than any other, the village of Embera Quera. Before arrival, we traveled by boat through the river and encountered a vast amount of plantain trees.

Boating in Panama Bryant style

Looking for alligators

We had the pleasure of giving a banana to Tony the monkey, a rescued animal with amazing branch-hopping skills.

Tony the monkey

We then continued on the village which was truly a sight to see at first, and we were greeted by the entire village with song and dance.

After a warm welcome, the medicine man of the village was the first speaker for our group. His skills and knowledge has been passed down by oral tradition, and many of the village’s home grown plants are used as natural remedies for certain illnesses. There were plants used to remove parasites in animals, control diabetes and cholesterol, and other illnesses such as fevers and colds. We viewed a house that had not yet completed its roof, and they explained to us that it takes only a few days to complete an entire roof using the trees from the forest. The problem with the houses is termite buildup, and after a certain period of time, the houses must be torn down and rebuilt so the homes will not collapse.

Medicine man at work

Tasting the medicine leaves

The village’s classroom was very interesting. The children will receive schooling in Spanish by a teacher provided by the Panamanian government, and they learn their native language from their parents. All students were taught to write with their right hands, even if left is their preference.

Gabe and Mark teaching the locals our games

When lunchtime arrived, we received a short speech from the second Indian chief of the village. He was very young, 27 in fact, and chosen to lead because chiefs have to be highly involved with the people at all times. He was chosen out of three possible candidates by election to lead his tribe. He gave us some basic facts, such as there are 17 families consisting of 47 people. People married at the age of 14-15 normally and the way a man married a woman was far different from what we expected. The two would meet in secret and when a man showed he truly wanted to marry a woman, he would sneak into her room and wait until morning for the father to walk-in, demonstrating his commitment to her.

We ate amazingly cooked fish, along with plantains and pineapples while conversing with many of the villagers. They had given many of us temporary tribal tattoos with the dye that they make.

Jordan getting inked

Alex and Elle tried on their outfits, and looked very stunning.

They were almost kept by the locals...

After eating, the village came together to perform a series of songs and dances for us. After a few dances, they then invited all of us up to dance with them. Steph was chosen as the first person to dance, which was a considered great honor. After the dance, some of us played with the children while others viewed their shop full of hand-carved wooden art and hand-made jewelry. We had an amazing day and most of us did not want to leave when it was over. This was far different from any other tour or presentation we had been a part of, and we all have experienced some of the richest culture that Panama has to offer.