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Emberá and Wounaan Foodways

Indigenous

The EMBERÁ — Katío, Chamí, Dóbida, Eyábida — and the WOUNAAN of the Chocó rainforest and the upper Sinú, with communities also in Panama and Ecuador. Riverine and forest food: PLANTAIN as the daily starch rather than yuca in much of the region, maize, yuca, rice, river fish, hunted game, palm fruits and chontaduro, and the CHICHA of maize or chontaduro. Also the EPERARA SIAPIDARA of the southern Pacific coast. ⚠ ALL THREE PEOPLES HAVE BEEN HEAVILY DISPLACED by the armed conflict and by mining on their rivers; mercury contamination of Chocó fish is documented and is a direct food-safety matter.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Emberá community documented
  • Wounaan community documented
  • Eperara Siapidara community documented

Languages: Emberá-Catío, Emberá-Chamí, Emberá-Baudó, Emberá-Tadó, Woun Meu, Epena

What is recorded

  • Fish from parts of the Chocó carry documented mercury contamination from alluvial gold mining. The Emberá, Wounaan and Eperara Siapidara have been heavily affected by displacement from the armed conflict and by mining on their rivers, both of which are recorded as food-system events. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Ecuadorian Cuisine documented

    Emberá and Eperara communities live on both sides of the border, and in Panama.

Recorded as relating to this foodway

  • related to Indigenous Panamanian Foodways documented

    ⚠ The Emberá and Wounaan live on both sides of the Darién Gap; the border is not a cultural one.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.