Recorded documents are scarce, and paint a vague picture of what Gorgona was like before the arrival of the Spanish. However, it stands to reason that there may have been some sort of settlement, or at least passageway through Gorgona as abuts the the mighty Chagres River.

Records from the Archivo General de Los Indias seem to paint a picture that an indigenous group in the modern Choco region of Colombia were resettled to Gorgona by the Spanish due to their mistreatment by other indigenous groups in their home region. Records seem to indicate that this group had converted to Christianity. However, it is not entirely clear if they were resettled to an Island also known as Gorgona. More recently, it seems that this became a long-term misunderstanding that extended to the inhabitants of the Chagres River valley.

Nearby areas are currently settled by the indigenous Embera-Wounaan who were previously widely referred to as “Chocó” before the group was able to advocate for their true name.

Title: Mapa de la Provincia del Chocó

Source: Archivo General de Indias

Date: 1610

Spanish map that illustrates indigenous “Chocó” (Cupica) settlements from northern Colombia to Panama including modern day Panama City, San Blas (Acla), and the Pearl Islands.

Title: Punta Bifacial ‘Cola de Pez’, Lago Alajuela

Source: Historia General De Panamá, Volumen 1

Date: Unknown

Lago Alajuela, also known as Madden Lake is an area of the Chagres River that was flooded for the Canal. Perhaps indigenous settlers on the Gorgona site crafted similar points.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.