Steve Koontz Personal Portfolio

# two

I got back from a trip to Panama last week. I was there for 7 days. The primary purpose for the trip was to travel up the Teribe river to film a short documentary about the Naso people, an indigenous tribal group living deep within the rain forest near the Costa Rican border. This tribe is in the middle of a cultural struggle between a progressive king who is in favor of a state sponsored hydro-electric damn and a primitive society previously isolated from such western developments. This damn threatens to change their ancestral land and life style. The Guardian has produced an interesting documentary about this conflict.

My reason for traveling up river was to document a ceremony of the first book to be translated into the Naso language. Prior to the 1970’s when my aunt was working in the tribe this ancient language was only spoken. There were no books, writings, or even an alphabet. The ceremony held on Agusut 17, 2008 was to dedicate the work of several American families and many native Naso speakers. They worked for over 30 years to translate most of the Christian Bible into Naso. The work is not finished as much of the Old Testament has yet to be translated, but now the tribe has the tools and education to continue the effort if they so desire.

Above is a picture I took of some of the houses in the tribe. I will post more pictures and videos as I get them ready.