KUNA INDIANS of PANAMA

Kuna Culture

            The Kuna live in large extended family groups in thatched huts with dirt floors. They sleep in hammocks and hang their clothes from the rafters of their huts. They are a well organized people who are commercially aggressive, but not pesky.

            When a boy marries he moves in with the girl and her family. The woman owns the house, property, and wealth which makes it desirable for the hard working men to maintain it. They transit daily via cayuca (small boat) to tend their crops. Men weave large utilitarian baskets.  Women do not go into the jungle or work in the fields; they are strictly domestic and dominate their men.           

            The Kuna are physically small. Women usually stand shy of 5 foot.  Men dress European style in shorts or long pants and tee shirts. The women always wear a blouse decorated front and back with a mola. They also wear either a short or long sarong. Their short hair is always covered with a red and gold head scarf. Multi strands of seed necklaces are worn around their neck as well as rows of beads on their arms and legs. Women also wear a gold band through their nose.

            The women are creative and artistic. They spend many hours doing very fine needlework on the reverse cut appliqué called mola. Mola means cloth. The molas are colorful, unique and are used as clothing decoration, accessories, as well as wall hangings. Coconut is a large barter crop which pays for the material and thread from either China or Columbia. They use fine quality goods to make their molas.

            All cooking is done in a separate cook house and is done in large quantities in 5 gallon pots over large fires. Fires are generally made of seven-foot long mangrove logs in the shape of wheel spokes. Mangrove is the wood of choice because it is smokeless. Rice, rum, and sugar are also imported. The men fish and fish is a stable in their diet. Fresh fruit is plentiful, especially bananas, papaya, and coconut. Fresh water comes from the rivers.

            The immediate Kuna family unit is small, usually two or three children. The infant mortality rate is high, but if a child survives the first couple years of life he has a good chance of  living to be 70.  Eye problems are common at a fairly young age. It also was interesting to learn that the Kuna have a 1:25 chance of being albino compared to a 1:28,000 for whites. Society accepts the different—homosexual, albino, or whatever. If a male, he most often will work with the women.

Kuna cemeteries are on the mainland and always near a river. The dead are buried in their hammock, with all their personal possessions. The funeral is the day after death but no later  than the second day.

Kuna use a witch doctor and pay him if they are satisfied with his treatment. They practice monogamy; in fact adultery is a felony. The Sahila is the leader and has authority over the community. The national government provides schooling through junior high. The Kuna have adapted but continue to keep their beliefs, myths, legends and traditions.

The Kuna do a complicated dance which really is a sport and in which they have regular competitions. The language is Spanish as well as a local dialect.

Because these people are commercial it is customary to pay a dollar to take their picture. General pictures of the village are ok, but if you take a picture of individuals or of  children you must pay.