Participatory Research Mapping of Indigenous Lands in Darien, Panama

Human Organization, Winter 2003 by Herlihy, Peter H

This article describes a participatory research mapping (PRM) project to document the subsistence lands used by the indigenous populations of the Darien Province, eastern Panama. The region is the historic territory of the Kama, Embera, and Wounaan peoples, with a biosphere reserve, two indigenous comarca homelands, and one of the most active colonization fronts in Central America. Having fought for recognition of their land rights in the face of encroaching outsiders, indigenous leaders were well aware of the power and importance of cartographic information. Indeed, the Darien was the most inaccurately mapped province in the country, and indigenous leaders embraced the idea of a mapping project to document their expanding settlements and natural resources. Community representatives were trained to complete land-use assessments using questionnaires and sketch maps. They worked with a team of specialists, including the author, to transform this information into standard cartographic and demographic results. The project's simple design brought outstanding results, including the first large-scale mapping of indigenous lands in this little-known region. The methodology shows how indigenous peoples can work with researchers in data collection and interpretation to transform their cognitive knowledge into standard forms, producing excellent scientific and applied results while enhancing their ability to manage their own lands.

Key words: participatory mapping, indigenous peoples, Embera, Wounaan, Kuna, rain forest, Panama

A basic services questionnaire was also finalized to inventory the presence of health centers, nurses, drinking water, schools, schoolteachers, transportation, and radio communications, as well as nonagricultural economic activity.

Leake used didactic approaches to teach the surveyors how to administer questionnaires and register oral responses. Mock interviews were held with families in Arimae to help surveyors to develop culturally appropriate interview styles. The Spanish-language questionnaires were translated into Embera and Kuna languages for surveyors who felt more comfortable working in their native language.

Leake gave surveyors simple instructions about how to draw sketch maps with ink and paper. Simple line maps help communicate cognitive geographic information in a way not so different from how villagers etch ephemeral maps in the soil to communicate place and location. The surveyors were asked to draw a map together with community members, locating the places where villagers carry out subsistence activities. No additional parameters were given for the sketch maps.

A simple contract was drafted and signed with each surveyor concerning work requirements and remuneration. Each developed a chronogram of his activities and an itinerary with travel budget, which was approved by the researchers, an activity that concluded each workshop. Following workshop 1, participants left Arimae for their respective work zones, traveling mostly by dugout and on foot. The Congreso Embera-Wounaan made announcements endorsing and explaining the project using radio broadcasts and word-of-mouth along river traffic-and-trade networks. The project was known, if not completely understood, by village leaders who informed their communities. Most surveyors were responsible for three to five communities, and the surveyors normally collaborated with the village leaders (the Embera noko, the Wounaan chi por, and the Kuna sahila) to hold a community meeting. Generally, the village authorities were helpful in encouraging community participation, especially those individuals with the greatest knowledge of the area.

Village meetings were primarily for completing the subsistence land use and basic services questionnaires. In most communities, a large number of men and women participated, while in some, village authorities united a smaller number of knowledgeable individuals. Women, while not interested in work as surveyors, contributed greatly to the community meetings. The surveyors, most using the indigenous language versions of the questionnaires, recorded the participants' responses to each question in the form of place names or brief geographical descriptions.

Sketch maps were sometimes drawn in the large community meetings, but many surveyors reported greater success working with smaller groups of experienced woodsmen. Onlookers inspected and critiqued their draftsmanship, some adding input. The resulting sketch maps were hand-drawn on blank paper in pencil and black ink. Some surveyors alternatively drew sketch maps of each major settlement in their survey zone. A few didn't draw maps at all. Many found it easier to complete the household census during the evening hours when villagers were home.

Workshop 2 and Fieldwork

Workshop 2, led by the coordinators and me, was designed to transform field data into cartographic and tabular forms. It was held during the second half of June at the old U.S. Canal Zone School in Gamboa, owned by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The surveyors and researchers worked, roomed, and boarded at the picturesque site along the edge of the Panama Canal. Nearly all the surveyors arrived with their field data complete, including the questionnaires, household census, and sketch maps. Their enthusiasm was high and the caliber of their work was beyond our expectations. The workshop lasted two weeks, but some surveyors stayed longer to work with the researchers to complete their zonal maps.