Embera Choco Indians, Darien Jungle, Panama
Overnight the ship had repositioned southeast and anchored six miles away from the mouth of the Sambu River. After lunch we boarded motorized cayucos (dugout canoes) for our journey to the village of La Chunga. The two-hour journey across the bay and up the river can only be made at high tide due to very shallow waters.
This region of the Darien jungle is populated by the Embera Choco Indians. Originally from Colombia, the Embera Choco drove the Kuna Indians out of the Darien and onto the San Blas Islands. The Embera typically settle near rivers. They value privacy, and prefer living out of sight and sound of any neighbors. They make their living from fishing, hunting and gathering from adjacent rivers and forests, and from subsistence agriculture. The Embera have a strong narrative tradition that communicates ecological principles.
Many Embera Choco had come to this village today to sell their handcrafts. They make beautiful and colorful baskets, using natural dyes from the rainforest. Many of our passengers asked to be “tattooed” by the Embera. These designs, created using a natural dye made from the fruit of the tree Genipa Americana, go away in about ten days.
Overnight the ship had repositioned southeast and anchored six miles away from the mouth of the Sambu River. After lunch we boarded motorized cayucos (dugout canoes) for our journey to the village of La Chunga. The two-hour journey across the bay and up the river can only be made at high tide due to very shallow waters.
This region of the Darien jungle is populated by the Embera Choco Indians. Originally from Colombia, the Embera Choco drove the Kuna Indians out of the Darien and onto the San Blas Islands. The Embera typically settle near rivers. They value privacy, and prefer living out of sight and sound of any neighbors. They make their living from fishing, hunting and gathering from adjacent rivers and forests, and from subsistence agriculture. The Embera have a strong narrative tradition that communicates ecological principles.
Many Embera Choco had come to this village today to sell their handcrafts. They make beautiful and colorful baskets, using natural dyes from the rainforest. Many of our passengers asked to be “tattooed” by the Embera. These designs, created using a natural dye made from the fruit of the tree Genipa Americana, go away in about ten days.
