Changing Society and Identity of Ngäbe-Buglé Indigenous People of Panama through Resistance Movement against Development Project

NAMIZUKA Nao

Ngäbe-Buglé is the largest native indigenous group of Panama whose population is more than 285,000, and the second largest ethnic group in Central America following the Maya people. However, since the settlement of the Spanish Conquistadores, they have been driven to the margin of society and have been forced to live in poverty. This situation has been changed in 1980’s throughout the bargaining between the government of Panama who would like to exploit the copper mine in the indigenous area