Tattoo, Embrera Village, Panama (photo)

Native embera doing a tattoo in the Village of the Indian Embera Tribe, Embera Village, Panama. Embera Drua is located on the Upper Chagres River. A dam built on the river in 1924 produced Lake Alajuela, the main water supply to the Panama Canal. The village is four miles upriver from the lake, and encircled by a 129.000 hectare National Park of primary tropical rainforest. It lies an hour from the city, close to the town of Las Cumbres. The village was founded in 1975 by Emilio Caisamo and his sons. They first called it community 2.60 as it was the name of the meteorological station constructed by the Panama Canal Commission located a little up river from the present community. The sons married and brought their wives to live in the community which later attracted more families. Most of the villagers moved out from the Darien Region--increasingly dangerous due to incursions by Colombian guerillas and drug traffickers--and to be closer to the city to have better access to its medical services and educational opportunities. In 1996, villagers adopted a name that reflects their identity and began to call their community Embera Drua. In 1998, the village totaled a population of 80. The social and political leadership of the village is divided between the Noko or village chief, the second chief, the secretary, the accountant and all the committees. Each committee has its president, and accountant, and sometimes a secretary. Photographed in 2014