The History and Language of Kuna indians and Panama

The History and Language of Kuna indians and Panama

The Kuna indians and Panama were living in what is now Colombia at the time of the Spanish invasion, and only later began to move westward towards what is now Kuna Yala. Centuries before the conquest, the Panama Kuna indians arrived in South America as part of a Chibchan migration moving east from Central America. At the time of the Spanish invasion, they were living in the region of Uraba and near the borders of what are now Antioquia and Caldas. Alonso de Ojeda and Vasco Nunez de Balboa explored the coast of Colombia in 1500 and 1501. They spent the most time in the Gulf of Uraba, where they made contact with the Kuna indians and Panama tribes.

There is a wide consensus regarding the migrations of Kuna indians and Panama tribes from Colombia and the Darien towards what is now Kuna Yala. These migrations were caused partly by wars with the Catio people, but mostly by bad treatment by the Spanish invaders.

he Kuna indians and Panama tribes language is a Native American language of the Chibchan family spoken by 50,000 to 70,000 Kuna indians panama. Kuna is the primary language of daily life in the comarcas, and the majority of Kuna indians and Panama tribe children speak the language. Spanish is also widely used, especially in education and written documents. Although it is relatively viable, Kuna is considered an endangered language. (also Chibchan, Chibchano) are a language family indigenous to Colombia and Central America. The name is derived from the name of an extinct language called Chibcha or Muisca cubun, spoken by the people who lived in the city of Bogota at the time of European invasion. However, genetic and linguistic data now indicate that the original heart of Chibchan languages and Chibchan-speaking peoples may not have been in Colombia at all, but in Costa Rica and Panama, where one finds the greatest diversity in Chibchan languages.

The Costa Rican linguist Adolfo Constenla Uma'a (1981, 1991, 1995) has created a detailed classification of Chibchan languages. Most of these fall into the Southern Chibchan subgroupings of Votic, Isthmic, and Magdalenic. The following list is a slight modification of Constenla's groupings. Northern Group

* Pech (Paya, Taya, Tawka, Seco) north-central Honduras Votic Subgroup (named for the extinct Votos of northern Costa Rica) * Rama southeastern Nicaragua * Voto Costa Rica, extinct * Maleku (Guatuso), north-central Costa Rica * Corobic northwestern Costa Rica Isthmic Subgroup * Huetar (Gietar), Costa Rica, extinct * Bribri (Talamanca), Costa Rica and Panama * Cabecar (Talamanca), Costa Rica * Boruca (Brunca, Brunka), Costa Rica, nearly extinct * Changuena Costa Rica & Panama, extinct * Teribe (Terraba, Tiribi, Teribe, Norteno, Quequexque, Naso), Panama and Costa Rica * Movere (Move), central Panama * Ngabere (Western - Guayme, Valiente, Chiriqui, Ngabere; Eastern - Tole, Chiriqui, Ngobere, Ngabere'), Costa Rica and Panama * Buglere (Bokota, Bogoti, Bofota, Bobota, Bukueta, Bugl?, Nortenyo, Murire, Sabanero, Veraguas Sabanero), Panama * Dorasque Panama, endangered * Kuna (Cuna, San Blas Kuna, Paya-Pucuro Kuna, Caiman Nuevo, Dulegaya), Panama and Colombia Magdalenic Subgroup * Chibcha (Muisca, Mosca) Colombia, extinct * Tunebo (U'wa) Colombia * Damana (Wiwa, Guamaca, Guamaka, Malayo, Arsario, Marocacero, Marocasero, Maracaserro, Sanc, Sanja, Sanka, Huihua) Colombia * Kankuamo (Atanquez, Atanques) Colombia, extinct * Ijca (Arhuaco, Aruaco, Bintuk, Bontukua, Bintucua, Ica, Ijka, Ika, Ike, Bontucua, Bintuk, Bontukua, Pebu) Colombia * Kogui (Coghui, Cagaba, Cogui, Kogi, Kaggaba, Kagaba) Colombia Southeastern Group * Bari (Motilin, Motilone, Dobocubi), Colombia and Venezuela * Chimila (Ette taara, Caca Weranos, Shimizya), Colombia Possibly related * Cueva Panama, extinct * Zena (Sini), northern Colombia * Cofin (Kofen, Kofane, A'i), Ecuador and Colombia * Yanomam Venezuela

Constenla argues that Cueva, the extinct dominant language of pre-Colombian Panama, was Chocoan, not Chibchan, but there is little evidence to support its classification either way. Constenla also disagrees with Greenberg's (1987) classification of Yanomam as Chibchan.

Cofin has been included in Chibchan due to borrowed vocabulary. Bogoti speakers assert that their language is different from Buglere and wish to be seen as a separate people (meeting of the Coordinadora Nacional de Pueblos Indigenas de Panama, 2003). A family called Macro-Chibchan is also hypothesized, which would contain the Misumalpan languages, Lenca languages, Tarascan isolate, Xinca language, Cuitlatec language, and Yanoama languages. Joseph Greenberg groups Chibchan together with the Paezan languages in what he terms the Chibchan-Paezan subfamily of Amerind. Dennis Holt (1986) has also suggested possible distant relationships of Chibchan with the Uto-Aztecan and Pano-Takanan language families. However, many linguists regard the concept of "Macro-Chibchan" (let alone higher-level groupings) as overly hypothetical and therefore of limited value. The most significant neighboring linguistic groups, with which there are important relationships, are Misumalpan languages (to the north) and Choco languages (to the south). None of these "macro"-groups have gained wide acceptance. Most of these indigenous languages are severely endangered and all of them require greater study and documentation including that of the Kuna indians and Panama indigenous tribes.

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Kuna indians and Panama

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