Los indios Kuna Panamá. Los indios Kuna viven en Panamá. La mujer en la foto es un indio Kuna.

Los indios Los indios KunaKunaPanamáPanamá

Los indios Los indios Kuna Kuna

viven en viven en Panamá.Panamá.

La mujer La mujer en la foto en la foto

es un es un indio indio

Kuna. Kuna.

Panamá está en

Centroamérica

The approximately 30,000 Kuna Indians now live on the San Blas Islands and on the strip of mainland Panamá

called Kuna Yala.

The Kuna Indians are a strongly tribal society that

live much like their ancestors did.

Una casa típica de los indios Kuna

Most houses are a large, single room

filled with hammocks where the Kuna

Indians rest & sleep.

Each dwelling may be home to 10 or 20 Kuna

from three to four generations, all related to a line of women. A woman never leaves the house into which

she is born!

Un baño típico de los indios

Kuna

The Kuna Indians are

Central America’s

last unassimilat

ed indigenous

tribe.

The Kuna Indians have stepped into modern times with both their culture and

their political automony intact.

They accomplished this by mounting a successful rebellion against the

Panamanian government in 1925.

The Kuna Indians govern

themselves, and each village is autonomous.

This is the meeting place for one Kuna village, where they gather to

hear the stories and advice of the

elders.

Their government is a social democracy where

each has rights to a voice in council.

There are various political parties among the Kuna

Indians.

Las banderas representan partidos políticos (political

parties) diferentes.

Each person is expected to make their own way in Kuna society, but also to contribute to communal labor, such as farming a

plot of land…

…or preparing coconuts brought to the island by boat.

For transportation, the Kuna indians use boats that they have made by

digging out a single tree. These are used to

transport water from the mainland to the islands.

Many Kuna women make a living by creating molas.

In fact, many

women make more money than

men by selling their

hand-crafted molas.

In the Kuna

language mola

means “blouse.”

Mola panels are also art.

In this simple mola, the top layer is cut away to show the

fabric underneath.

The top layer is then hand-stitched to the fabric

beneath.

This Kuna woman is wearing a similar simple

mola design.

Most molas have multiple layers of fabric overlays,

which create intricate designs.

This woman’s mola design is more complex and intricate.

When complete, two molas are sewn together to

become the front and back of a blouse.

Many mola designs depict scenes from

nature.

The Kuna Indians live in one of the richest

biological regions in Central America.

This location provides a unique source of

inspiration for mola makers.

¿Sabes el animal?

los burros

¿Sabes el animal?

el elefante

¿Sabes el animal?

los gatos

¿Sabes el animal?

los perros

¿Sabes el animal?

el armadill

o

¿Sabes el animal?

los monos

¿Sabes el animal?

el delfín

¿Sabes el animal?

la tortuga

Kuna women also create molas to represent

objects used in their everyday lives. This mola depicts two washboards.

This mola depicts firepots. The pots are

used to burn incense to help heal the sick and

dying.

In addition to nature and everyday

objects, molas often depict themes

related to politics, popular culture, or

Kuna legends.

For example, this mola is a reproduction of a campaign ad for presidential elections.

Some molas have intricate geometric designs.

Molas take weeks to create. No two molas are

the same!

The quality of the mola is determined by factors such

as:

•Number of layers•Fineness of stitching •Evenness and width of cutouts •Addition of details such as zigzag borders, lattice-work or embroidery •General artistic merit of the design and color combination.

When Kuna women get

tired of their molas

(blouses), they typically

disassemble them and sell

them to collectors.

When it comes to molas, second-hand is the best! Authentic molas, and not

ones created just for tourists, will show signs of wear, such as fading and

stitch marks along the edges of the paneling.

Mola-making has been a custom among the Kuna for more than a century, but has only recently become an

important commodity for tourist trade.

Tourism and molas provide a source of income for the Kuna, but also have an impact on their culture.

In what ways could increased tourism among the Kuna

impact their culture?

How have molas

served to both

maintain and to

threaten the cultural identity of the Kuna Indians?

Art Project

Create your own mola design using the

following materials:

•8 ½ x 11 piece of poster board

•Yarn

•Glue

Art Project

Like the Kuna Indians’ designs, yours can

represent the nature around you, an object from your everyday life, depict a

political or pop culture theme, a geometric design,

or a legend.