Re-thinking polygyny: mobility, immobility and multiple relations among the Ngäbe of Panamá.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the relationship between polygyny and popu-lation movements. Polygynous relationships have historically been practiced among the Ngäbe of Panama, and although they have declined in recent decades, they are still common today. Based on their dynamics of im/mobility to Costa Rica and the role played by women, this study analyzes how mobility influences the existence and prevalence of polygynous relationships among these indigenous peoples and how, polygyny in turn favors their way of life, articulating mobility and im-mobility. The information was gathered during ethnographic fieldwork in the Comarca Ngäbe-Bu-glé indigenous territory of Panama and in the coffee plantations of southern Costa Rica, where Ngäbe men and women from Panama travel each year to work temporarily in the coffee harvest. The material presented shows the reciprocal relationship between polygyny and the temporary mobility of the Ngäbe to Costa Rica, and highlights the need to re-think polygyny within a broader framework that takes into account the specific context of each society, as well as the perspective of women and the whole domestic unit.