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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.
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