BUGLE INDIANS IN PANAMA

THE BUGLE TRIBE HAS ABOUT 1000 PEOPLE AND SPEAKS CHIBCHAN LANGUAGE. THERE IS NO MEANING OF SIX TERM BUGLE. AND THEY ARE OFTEN IN NATURE.

THEY LIVE IN THE EASTERN PART OF BOCAS DEL TORO AND 700 FOLKS SPEAK BUGLERE AND MURINE.

THE BUGLE ARE A BRANCH OF THE NGAWBE GROUP.. THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ARE UNCERTAIN. THEY LOCATE THEIR ANCESTORS TO THE SOUTH BY THE NURI. ACCORDING TO A LEGEND THE BUGLE ONCE HAD WINGS LIKE A BIRD AND COULD FLY ANYWHERE. ONE DAY THEY CROSSED THE CORDILLERA AND ARRIVED HERE. THEY ENGAGED IN IMPROPER BEHAVIOR AND LOST ABILITY TO FLY. THE AREA OCCUPIED BY THE BUGLE IS PART OF A MORE EXTENSIVE AREA IN THE PROVINCES OF CHIRIQU AND VERAGUAS, ONE THAT THE NQUAWBE HAVE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THEY LIVE IN A HIGHLY DISPERSED PATTERN OF SMALL HAMLETS. MOST OF THEIR HOUSES WERE ROUND AND MADE OF STICKS AND STRAW ROOFS. THE HOUSE TYPE WAS WIDESPREAD IN EASTERN COSTA RICA.

BY 1964 THEY MADE RECTILINEAR HOUSES OF SONOME MATERIALS. THEY BUILT AN INTERIOR PLATFORM UNDER THE ROOF WITH A NOTCHED LADDER. THE FIRE WAS IN THE CENTER OF THE FLOOR. THE BUGLE PRACTICE SWIDDENED BASED AGRICULTURE AS THEIR MAIN SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD. THEY COLLECT ACORNS, GROW RICE, AND BANANAS, PLANTAINS, BEANS, ROOT CROPS- TARO , SWEET POTATOES, MANIOC, PALMS, CACAO, MANGOES, PINEAPPLE AND CHILI PEPPERS. RICE IS A SURPLUS THAT THEY TAKE TO MARKET.

CHICKEN, DUCKS, AND PIGS ARE RAISED FOR HOME CONSUMPTION. SOME ARE SOLD FOR MARKET. CATTLE ARE SOLD AT THE MARKET. CATTLE ARE RAISED TO BE SOLD. THEY USED TO RAISE MORE CATTLE BUT THEIR NUMBERS HAVE BEEN REDUCED DUE TO THE PLAGUE. HUNTING OF WILD TURKEY ANIMALS IS NOT THAT COMMON NOW, BUT IT WAS ORIGINALLY. FISHING WITH PLANT POISONS USED TO BE QUITE COMMON.

THEY MAKE STURDY BASKETS. BUT THEY ARE NOT OF HIGH QUALITY. NET BAGS IS A TRADITIONAL CRAFT. SOME ARE CRUDE. THEY MAKE NO POTTERY. THEY MAKE FLUTES OF BAMBOO AND BONE. WOMEN HATS ARE A RECENT CRAFT. THEY SELL BEADED COLLARS AND MAKE BARK CLOTH FOR CLOTHING. IT IS NOW RARE HOWEVER. THEY TRADE WITH NONINDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND FOLKS WHO TRAVEL HERE. THEY EXCHANGE THEIR HATS AND MAIZE FOR WESTERN METAL COOKING POTS, CLOTH AND MACHETES.

WOMEN DO CHILD CARE AND TAKE CARE OF FOOD PREP. MEN HUNT AND FISH AND MAKE HATS. POLYGYMY IS SOMETIMES PERMITTED. THEY INTERMARRY WITH WITH NGAYBE BECAUSE OF SHORTAGE OF OF BUGLE WOMEN. THEY HAVE NO FORMAL MARRIAGE CEREMONY. WOMEN MAY MARRY AT AGE 12. IT IS A COMMON AGREEMENT.

THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS THE MOST COMMON UNIT OF PRODUCTION, BUT EXTENDED FAMILIES WERE COMMON IN THE PAST. A HOUSE IN WHICH A PERSON DIES IS ABANDONED. LAND IS INHERITED BY BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. A PUBERTY CEREMONY FOR A GIRL IS HER FIRST MENSES. IT SIGNALS HER TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD. MEN HAVE NO CEREMONIES. SCHOOL ATTTENDANCE IS ENTHUSIASTIC.

THEY ACCEPT CHRISTIANITY BUT FEW OF THEIR MYTHS SURVIVE. THEY BELIEVE IN A GOD AND A DEVIL. THEY HAVE A CEREMONY TO PROTECT A NEW HOUSE. THEY HAVE SOME BELIEF IN THE MAIZE GODDESS. THEY TRADITIONALLY BELIEVED IN A SHAMAN. SUKIAS APPARENTLY EFFECTED CURES THROUGH SPIRIT WORLD. SHAMANS COULD USE THEIR POWERS FOR GOOD AND EVIL.

THEY HELD CEREMONIES FOR A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST. AND THEY HELD CEREMONIES 8 DAYS AFTER THE BIRTH OF A CHILD. A CEREMONY IS HELD AFTER A NEW HOUSE IS BUILT . THERE IS MUCH FOOD AND DANCING.

FACE PAINTING OF MEN AND WOMEN WAS COMMON BUT NOT NOW.THEY HAVE TRADITIONAL CURERS USED TO PLANT MEDICINES TO HEAL. THEY SHOWED THE FAMILY OF A SICK PERSON HOW TO HEAL THEM.

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