 Location of Naso people | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,005[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Costa Rica, Panama | |
| Languages | |
| Teribe,Spanish[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Boruca,Bribri |
TheNaso orTeribe people (alsoTjër Di) are anIndigenous people of Panama andCosta Rica. They primarily live in northwestPanama in theBocas del Toro Province andNaso Tjër Di Comarca as well as in southernCosta Rica in thePuntarenas Province. There are roughly 3,500 people who belong to the Naso tribe. It is one of the fewIndigenous groups or tribes that continues to have amonarchy.
The Naso people have traditionally occupied the mountainous jungle regions of western Bocas del Toro where they continue to identify with the lands along the river that became known in the Spanish speaking world as the Teribe or Tjër Di in Naso. ‘Di’ means ‘water’ and 'Tjër' is their mythical “Grand-Mother” who was endowed by God with the secrets of botanical medicine.[2] Until as recently as three or four generations ago the Naso people led a remarkably autonomous existence. Dispersed among their clans and homesteads, and geographically isolated from most of the world, the Naso developed and nurtured their cultural self-sufficiency through the idiom and the institution of the family.[3]
The Naso people speakTeribe, though the majority also speakSpanish.
The Naso, who now live in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama, are for the most part very poor subsistence farmers who supplement their earnings with the sale of the agricultural products (cocoa, oranges, plantains, etc.), animals (pigs, chickens, ducks, etc.), lumber (Cordia alliodora,Cedrela odorata, etc.) and some handicrafts which they transport to the relatively nearby city ofChanguinola (population 30,000, two hours down river by raft or dugout canoe). While the Naso are isolated in geographic terms and receive few visitors to their communities, they are for the most part bilingual (Naso and Spanish), wear Western clothing, and many among them have converted toevangelical Protestant religions.[4]The Costa Rica branch has been successful in gaining United Nations financial support to build tourism facilities including hostel/cabin housing with plumbing and improvement to trails.[5]
The enormous scientific, hydroelectric andeco-tourism potential of the Naso people’s ancestral territory has attracted considerable international and national interest. Beginning in the 1980s the Government of Panama transferred large sections of the region to its own system of protected areas (Palo Seco National Forest (BBPS) andLa Amistad International Park (PILA). In the year 2005, three major conservation and development projects were proposing to significantly reorganize local land use activities. These included a new law to recognize Naso territorial rights and jurisdiction in thePanamanian National Assembly, aWorld Bank-funded Biological Corridor project (CBMAP) promoting sustainable development in Indigenous communities and protected areas, and a hydroelectric project sponsored by a Colombian utility company (Empresas Públicas de Medellín).[6]
In Costa Rica, Térraba lands are threatened by the Diquís Dam project, which would flood 10 percent of the land including important sacred sites and which would force the relocation of the approximately 600 Indigenous Naso who live in the country.[7]
The tribe is governed by a monarch. The former tradition of succession would follow from the king to his brother, to the older son of the previous king. Since the 1980s, succession is based on the vote of the adult population. Typically, when there is a sense within the community that there is dissatisfaction with the current monarch, another member of the royal family may choose to stand for a public vote to see if they can replace the current monarch. In 2004, King Tito was deposed following his approval of ahydroelectric scheme on theBonyic River which traverses Naso territory. He was deposed in a civil uprising in the capital,Sieyic, and forced into exile. His uncle Valentín was then considered the King of Naso by the majority of the tribe. As of January 2026, the current recognized King of Naso is Ardinteo Santana Torres.
The Térraba describe themselves as amatriarchal community. They pride themselves on their rich agriculture and their independence.
Most of the inhabitants in Panama speak the native language, although the majority also knowSpanish. Very few of the Naso people adhere toRoman Catholicism. TheSeventh-day Adventist Church, is very important. The traditional God isSibö, who is a supreme God and creator. Most Naso live in elevated wooden houses, with thatched or zinc-coated roofing.
In Costa Rica, few native Naso speakers remain, and those who do are mainly elders. Intermarriage between the Costa Rican and Panamanian groups has brought some fluent speakers to live in the Costa Rican territories. As of 2012, the community in Costa Rica has brought in a teacher from Panama to reintroduce the language in the village schools.[7]
