The Naso, also known as the Teribe, have been the inhabitants of the mountainous jungle region of the northwestern corner of Panama since long before the Spanish colonizers ever reached the shores of Central America. The arrival of the Spanish in the 17th century led to a decimation of the Naso population with war, relocation, and disease. Today, the remaining Naso live in 11 small communities located along the Teribe River amid the lush forest of the La Amistad International Park.
The Teribe river is of great historical and modern day importance to the Naso. Although called the Teribe by the Spanish, the original Naso name for the river is Tjër Di . ‘Di’ means ‘water’ and Tjër is the mythical “Grand-Mother”, the guiding spirit of the Naso ancestors. The Naso are proud to be the only remaining monarchy in the Western Hemisphere. The population of about 3,500 Naso people all pay allegiance to the king, who resides in his royal palace in the community Sieyik, the center of the Naso region, located approximately two hours upriver from Soposo Rainforest Adventures. The king governs with the help of his consejo (board of advisers), representatives drawn from the various communities. The Naso reserve the right to switch kings if they become unhappy with him. They can vote him out, but the replacement has to come from the royal family.
For hundreds of years, the Naso have enjoyed the riches of the forest - hunting, fishing, cutting trees and extracting plants but they now find their very survival, and that of their children threatened. Many Naso are forced to leave behind their homes, family and culture to seek out jobs in urban areas. The cultural identity of the few Naso who remain is being eroded on all sides: by the dominant Latin culture, by missionaries, by intermarriage with other indigenous peoples, and by dispersion. Although several of Panama’s other indigenous tribes have received large tracts of land from the Panamanian government that are designated as reservations for those tribes, the Naso still do not have comarca (reservation) status for their land. The Naso continue to fight for the creation of a130,000-hectare comarca of their own, but it has been slow going in the Panamanian national assembly.
Although the majority of Naso people wear modern clothes, traditional dress is still commonly seen at any ceremony or cultural representation. Women wear unique dresses, with long puffy blouses and full skirts often in bright colors with small floral patterns. Braided hair and necklaces of beads are also traditional for Naso women and girls. The traditional clothing of men is less ornate with a white collarless shirt with ¾ length sleeves and dark trousers.
Naso construction traditionally features homes built on stilts of a type of palm known as jira and roofs thatched with another kind of palm known as palenquilla. Modernization in the area has made wooden planks for walls and floors, and zinc roofs common for newer homes.
The Naso are mostly subsistence farmers who supplement their earnings with the sale of the agricultural products, animals, lumber and some handicrafts which they transport to the relatively nearby city of Changuinola. A great deal of their land is cultivated, common crops are plantains, cacao, oranges, pineapple, peach palm fruit, yucca and other root vegetables.
The Teribe-Changuinola Watershed, home to the Naso and Soposo Rainforest Adventures, is known for its diverse population of birds, plants and wildlife. La Amistad Biosphere Reserve, which is located there, has been designated a "World Heritage Site" by the United Nations and contains Central America's largest intact tropical rain forest. Forests in the area provide a convergence point for 75% of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere, and, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, harbor 115 different species of fish.
