Evening star., 1925-03-29
SAN BIAS INDIANS
A PEOPLE APART
Living 400 Years Among
Mixed Races, Tribes Boast
PureSt Racial Strains.

VINO recently rose against tuc
man government, are unique among
the coastal aborigines of both the
Americas in remaining pure racially,
according to a bulletin from the
Washington headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic Society.
This is all the more remarkable, the
bulletin points out, because these
people inhabit the portion of the
mainland first visited by Europeans,
and selected for their first attempt at
continental colonization; and because
control by Europeans has actually
been in force all around them for
more than 400 years.
A Sea-Island People.
"The part of Panama which is
usually spoken of more or less loosely
as the San Bias territory begins
about 60 miles east of the Atlantic
end of the canal. and extends on east
ward toward the Colombian border,
continues the bulletin. 1T also ex-
tends an indefinite distance inland.
The typical San Bias Indians, how
ever, are a sea-island people. and the
center of their activity. on the numer-
Gus small islands in the Gulf OF San
Bias, is "a sort Of New World Venice.
Like true Venetians, they seem to
have taken up their abode on these
against their warlike kinsmen of the
interior. The islands are almost ex-
clusively dwelling places, and the
Indians that inhab1t them cross over
to the mainland by day to harvest
yams, plantains and other vegetables
and fruits from their jungle clear
ings, and to gather ivory, nuts and
other jungle products. Some of the
Indians also live in villages along
the, coast of the mainland.
The San Bias Indians are not
savages They are at least semi
civilized, and are an orderly people
not given to encroachment on or
aggression toward their neighbors.
They have fought much during the
past four centuries, but 1t has been
the fighting of a people with their
backs to a wall, who believe the wall
is theirs, and who mean to defend it
Never Conquered.
"The apparent attitude of the San
Bias Indians might be described by
a phrase borrowed from the new
psychology. They seem to have de-
veloped strong superiority COM
plex.' When the Spaniards began
settling the Isthmus they could not
see why their affairs should be inter-
fered with and they set the Spaniards
down as their implacable enemies.
All efforts to conquer them or TO mix
with them were unsuccessful. They
were pushed farther back, but always
managed to hold for their own a
considerable territory. Finally the
Spanish settlers entered into a treaty
with the San Bias people agreeing to
remove all forts from their territory
and granting them sort OF au-
tonomy
when the Isthmus passed to Colon
bia, the San Bias maintained much the
same attitude toward the Colombians
that they had maintained toward the
Spaniards, and when Panama became
independent in 1903 they held aloof
also from the new government They
have had their own chiefs and have
had little or nothing to do with the
Panaman government. Every effort to
bring them any closer under the con-
troll of the republic starts an upris-
ing like the recent one.
"It has been the boast of the San
Bias that their race has remained alb
solutely pure-that there Is no such
thing as a half breed San Bias. This is
the more remarkable because Of the
marked racial mixture nearby, where a
fusion of whites, Indians and negroes is
to be found.
reputation for being inhospitable. This
is not exactly an accurate estimate,
They have learned to be suspicious of
strangers and they will take no chances.
Those having legitimate errands, such
as traders, are treated courteously, but
there is an unvarying rule that no
stranger shall remain ashore in their
country over night. They look upon
their land as community property, but
those who clear space, have a recog-
nized title to 1t while they use It. If a
clearing is abandoned, II again becomes
community property. Fruit trees planted
by an individual become his property.
Living as they do near the water.
the San Bias are thoroughly at home
in that element, being excellent
swimmers and canoeists. The chill
dren are given tiny canoes as soon as
they are large enough to WELD a lit
tie paddle, and are accomplished
boatmen at an early age. The San
Bias are sturdy and strong but of
low stature, hardly averaging feet
in height. There is a persistent ira
dition that the Indians not only go
fruits, but also to work secret gold
mines. They use considerable
amount of gold in personal adorn-
ment, but whether their ornaments
are chiefly heirlooms or whether
fresh gold is constantly made into
these baubles has not been deter
mined.
"An incident occurred during the
digging of the canal that we'll illus
trates the independence and the
shrewdness of the San Bias. Engi-
neers of the canal commission found
in the edge of the San Bias country
a huge deposit of sand of a type
perfectly fitted to their needs for
concrete mixing, and offered to buy
it at a good price from the San Bias
chief. No. was his reply 1t is our
sand today, 1t belonged to our fathers
before us, and it will be our children's
in the future. We can't sell it. Any
way, if your God had meant for you to
have it, He would have put it at Colon,
not in the land of San Bias