NZPhotographer Issue 30, April 2020

Photography is a medium for expression of life in
all its facets. From learning the art with a Rollei
medium format to a Nikon D700, one is never short of
opportunities to tell a story. My greatest interest has
been photographing people, and looking for that
special photo to portray the inner soul of the person. I
always love the challenge of photographing children,
with their sense of freedom and fun.
www.snugharbour.co.nz
EMBERÁ INDIANS OF PANAMA
A few years ago I seized the opportunity to visit an Emberá Indian village on the banks of a river
in Panama. This visit was like going back in time because the village offered a unique glimpse
at a preserved way of life of the indigenous people of Panama and Colombia with music and
dance, traditional clothing, and indigenous foods all part of the immersive experience.
The Emberá are historically a riverine people, building their houses on stilts along the banks of
rivers where they are organized into a small community with a communal house at its centre.
The craft of constructing dugout canoes (hampá) was historically a very significant skill for
Emberá men, at times serving as a rite of passage or prerequisite for marriage according to oral
history.
Although most Emberá people now live in villages, towns, or urban centres, many established
Emberá communities still found along riverbanks have resisted modernization and still keep
their own government and family structures, however, they do rely a lot on tourism to sell their
homemade products.
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