Urracá or Ubarragá Maniá Tigrí (d. 1531) was an Ngäbe

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

chieftain or

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a ...

in the region of present-day Panama who fought effectively against the Spanish conquistadors. The Spaniards captured Urracá when he met them to discuss a peace treaty, caged him, and sent him to the Caribbean port of Nombre de Dios, intending to send him to Spain. He escaped to his mountain village and died a free man. He is remembered as ''el caudillo amerindio de Veragua'' (the Amerind leader of Veragua) and adversary of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, the great resistance leader of Panama. He has been honored by his image on the ''centesimo'', the smallest-denomination coin of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

History

Shortly after the foundation of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

in 1519, the Spanish Governor-Captain Pedrarias Dávila began moving into the country, hoping to find a gold-rich village. The Spanish conquered the Veragua province, which is particularly rich in gold mining. Urracá's territory was in the vicinity of the present town of Nata de los Caballeros, founded on 20 May 1520 to serve as a basis for exploration of the rest of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Urracá and his forces bravely face