The KUNA Tribe

Some Kuna women hanging on the street in Chepo

Since both of my service villages identify as “Kuna”, a little background on the tribe is in order. First, the folks in my towns are not pure or “orthodox” Kuna, as I call them. They are of mixed descent, mostly with Afro-Panamanians. This part of Panama was the favorite place to hide when slaves escaped from the Spanish masters. Nor is either village on the Kuna Comarca. The Comarca is a special preserve, a bit like the Indian reservation in the US. Except this land is some of the richest turf around, mostly virgin jungle forest. Only the Kuna can harvest wood or hunt or fish in the Comarca (legally anyway). There is a Comarca for each of the 7 remaining tribes. So, my folks are not pure Kuna, but do share some traits.

The full Kuna outfit

The Kuna Comarca, which is only about 5 km from my cottage, is by far the largest. The boundary is also right across the PanAmerican Hwy from Ipeti Choco, one of my villages, which is why I see so many of the orthodox Kuna. Their village, on the northern side of the PanAm is Ipeti Kuna. The Comarca extends all the way to the Atlantic (Caribbean) side and includes the famous San Blas islands, where the purest of the pure Kuna live. All the Kuna on the Comarca are self-governing and pretty much independent of Panamanian federal control. Everything, including animals, land and homes, is owned communally.

Classic Kuna home

The Kuna moved up from Columbia, after the Spanish wiped out nearly all the natives in Darien and then abandoned the area in favor of the easier crossing route where the Canal is today. The Kuna never got along with the Spaniards or the Panamanians after independence, but did seem to welcome the Scots, who tried (unsuccessfully) to colonize in the area. Their path to autonomy started back in 1925, when the Kuna got tired of government intervention and revolted, killing the entire police force in the region.  For a rather reclusive group, they seemed to have lots of allies. A Canadian served as their army general. And the US sent a warship to prevent the Panamanian government from attacking the tribe by sea.. Sending more police in through the dense jungle only met with more disaster and 13 frustrating years later, the Panamanian government established the Comarca and granted the Kuna full autonomy.

One of the San Blas islands - Tourism is tightly controlled

The Kuna purists will not marry outside the tribe. They worship gods of nature and have (sometimes violently) rejected attempts at religious conversion. The Kuna are fierce protectors of the environment. They recently got the government to agree to remove all the collected plastic and styrofoam trash that washes up on their beaches, so they don’t have to burn or bury it. The women dress in a very specific way in public – headscarf, black skirt with bright green patterns, full arm and leg beaded bracelets and light blouses with colorful, intricately embroidered patches, called molas on front and back. I’ve only seen a few wear shoes. In their villages, it is just the skirt – ala Nat Geographic.

Many "mola" designs feature wildlife and nature

They make their living from their crafts, some tourism and from hunting, fishing, gathering and limited agriculture. They also get a monthly allowance from the Comarca fund that was established when the government paid the Kuna a large (unknown) sum, in order to build the Bayown hydroelectric Dam in 1956, which displaced 10 large Kuna villages and consumed 350,000 hectares of prime river-front land.. There is an annual congress of “chiefs” to work out matters that affect the whole tribe or disputes between villages. There are currently an estimated 40,000 Kuna, living in self-governing villages or islands. The population has been stable since the 1990’s, though exact numbers seem hard to come by.

I’ve heard them speak Spanish on the bus, but use their tribal language when speaking to each other. It is a really unique sounding tongue, spoken in a mono-tone with very little inflection – almost like an old computer generated voice. There are also some sort of click and throaty sounds like a very hard “k”.

They navigate well in the “outside” world. Many attend public schools and universities, even taking jobs in the City for a time, but always returning to their villages, if they wish to retain Kuna membership.

The dyed lines show family heritage

From what I’ve seen the Kuna have a female dominated society. Many of the “chiefs” are women. Women are the ones who do the tourism selling and seem to control the family money. They carry themselves proudly and don’t seem timid in any way. They wear faint “tattoo” lines on their shoulders – a dye, that fades over time, I’m told – which denotes their family heritage, which they are given at puberty, during a very special ceremony.

As you have seen from my photos, they are “diminutive”. But, strong and nimble – anyone who can prance up those notched logs as they do, carrying a sack, has my admiration and respect. They smile a lot and seem quite happy when they are out and about. In sum, the Kuna seem to be able to integrate into the modern world, while proudly maintaining their own traditions and culture with an economy that is quite self-sustaining – a balancing act that could be a model for native people around the world.