From Muu Giagua (Cataclysm) to Neg Guaide (Climate Change); Thinking Human Agency in the Destruction and Regeneration of the World from Gunayala (Panama)

Pensar a ação humana na destruição e regeneração do mundo a partir de Gunayala (Panamá)

Abstract

Recently, the image of the island of Gardi Sugdub -in the comarca of Gunayala (Panama)-, has appeared recurrently in the hegemonic media to illustrate climate change, a phenomenon perceived heterogeneously by the inhabitants of the comarca. While for some, the scientific evidence is convincing, for others climate change is an illusion of the waga (non-indigenous) world. The vanishing of the island, like other cataclysms that have happened in the past, such as the tsunami of 1882, is due to imbalances caused by human misbehaviour, the lack of correct interpretation of certain indicators, or the disregard of knowledge passed down from generation to generation. The aim of this article is to address the perception of the population of the western sector of Gunayala on climate change (neg guaide) and its connection with the cataclysmic episodes of their cosmovision, especially those caused by floods (muu giagua). For this purpose, this paper analyses the process of settlement on the islands, the cataclysms in the Babigar narratives (treaties, collective memory) and the perception of the shamans about the ruptures at the present time.