Most communities have a Ngabere name, even if they go by their given Spanish name. Calante doesn't have a Spanish name. What it does have is an interesting story as to it got that name.
First I should explain Ngabere nomenclature. The "te" at the end of the word just signifies that it's that place. Calan-te. Kwi-te. Soli-te. Odoba-te. In the case of Jon's site, Kwite, "Kwi" means "chicken" in Ngabere. So Kwite is the "place of chicken". Knowing that, Calante is then the "place of Calan."
Second I should explain brujas. Brujas are the witches or spirits that one needs to watch out for. My people love 'dem some brujas. Remember the story of Toto? Obviously his ailments were that of a bruja. Even the latino doctor said that as part of his diagnosis. I couldn't tell you how many conversations I've had with community members where they ask them if I get scared at night living in my house all alone. When I ask why, they always respond about brujas, shocked that one could be so naive. I joke that having a women visit me in the middle of the night doesn't sound half bad.
So that brings me to the story of Calan. As the story goes, the grandfather of Dima, one of the elderly in Calante, came to the area when Dima was just a toddler. They came from the Krikamola, the major river that runs parallel to the Mananti and is about four hours hike away. (Back then it must have been a much longer hike since there was no road and paths were much less traveled). The family settled a little upriver of present-day Calante. The location was good. They had access to streams and the main river. There was land for farming and there were animals like wild boar and rabbit that could be hunted for food.
At some point Dima's grandfather started seeing visions of a woman bathing herself in one of the quebradas running behind Calante. He would watch her fish and gather root vegetables in the foothills above Calante. This is where the story gets a little fuzzy. At night he would call out after this siren of the quebrada. People could hear his booming voice carry up and down the river. Caaaallllaaaaannnn... Caaaallllaaaaannnn... Caaaallllaaaaannnn...
