The effects of urbanization on Native American communities in Coclé, Panama

By Valeria Torres (’24).

I joined Dr. Velázquez-Runk’s research, which focused on identifying the effects of urbanization on Native Americans communities in Coclé, Panama. One of the effects is that they are forced to migrate into the forest for new land. As a result, Native Americans catch zoonotic diseases like Chagas and Leishmania. One of the goals of this research is to change the perspective that Native Americans are the ones spreading zoonotic diseases into Native Americans are forced into areas where zoonotic diseases are found. I began to contribute to this research on June 1st, 2023, by familiarizing myself with applications and conducting background research on Panama. On June 17th to the 25th, I traveled to Panama, where I interviewed stakeholders, some were historians, others were anthropologists, librarians, engineers, lawyers, and Panamanians who have first-hand experience on migrating due to urbanization or changes in law. We also conducted extensive research on the topic and scanned books and documents that had relevant information to the project.