Kuna Kids

Our time in the San Blas Islands of Panama was filled with stunning beauty.  The fish filled reefs, the native rainforest, and the palm fringed beaches were all spectacular (see our Sept. and Oct. postings for stories and pictures of this area).  And we found the native Kuna people to be just as beautiful as the landscape.  We loved connecting with the Kuna people, and developed some rewarding relationships with many of them.  And, the children we encountered were particularly delightful.  Kuna kids seemed to be, well, simply happy.  See for yourself in this slideshow of some of our favorite snapshots of Kuna Kids...

Nuedi!

More-Make-Tupu

Isla Maquina - Mola Maker Island

Intrigued by the name - Mola-Maker Island - as well as the fact that our favorite “Master Mola Maker” Venancio hails from this island, (See the post about "Master Mola Maker" Venancio, here.) we decided to put in a call to the place.  The island’s official name is Isla Maquina, but it’s also called More-make-tupu by the Kuna.  In the Kuna language Mor means Mola, make means making, and tupu means island.  We dropped our anchor just off the island, nestled between a number of reefs.  Before we had the chance to wonder if we could locate Venancio on the tiny island, a panga motored up along side us.  We immediately recognized none other than Venancio himself.  We greeted each other as old friends, and Venancio introduced us to the driver - his brother Idelfonso. 

The "Swift Butlerfly" docked next to the Restrepo home.

Idelfonso handed us his card.  He is a panga-launch driver, The "Swift Butlerfly" (sic), essentially a water taxi, as well as a local guide.  His services include leading river tours, kayaking and jungle treks.   He suggested that we consider taking a tour up the nearby river the next

Idel was so proud of his boat name, so we did not 
have the heart to explain the spelling error.

morning.  In excellent English Idelfonso explained that he would be able to tell us all about Kuna history and traditions during such a tour.  We told him we’d think about it, and that we would come in to visit the island in a bit to look for some eggs and bread.  Oh, yes...and to maybe look at a few molas, too.

We arrived at the dock and found The Restrepo family hut/compound right next door.  We were ushered in and given seats on plastic lawn chairs, surrounded by Venancio and Idelfonso’s entire family.  We met the matriarch of the family - Venancio and Idelfonso’s mother - as well as several sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, and Idelfonso’s two young children. 

Checking out molas in Venancio's home.  Idelfonso is on the right in the red hat.

They all sat and watched as we took another awed look through Venancio’s artwork.  With gifts for friends and family in mind we bought more magnificent molas.  Venancio’s mola selling IS a family affair; all the money that Venancio makes is shared with his entire family.   There were about 15 family members all living together in a number of connected huts.   The money each family member makes, and the food that is caught or gathered is used for the good of the entire clan.  

Jungle Tour.

The family, along for the ride. 

We agreed to have Idelfonso  (Idel for short) take us up the river on a tour the next day.  As an added bonus, we discovered that a neighboring island was having a “chicha” ceremony with traditional dancing in the evening, and he could take us there to watch the dance.  So the next morning Idel picked us up in his panga and headed for the river.  Along for the ride were one of Idel’s sisters and two nieces (and several small children) who were going to the cemetery to visit the grave of Idel’s father.  Idel’s brother-in-law and nephew were going along to visit their family farm plot in order to gather some yucca, which is a staple in the Kuna diet.  

Kuna cemetery.

Burial mound, with cocoa bean incense, and the departed's personal mug.

Preparing the cocoa bean and charcoal offering.

We had read that Kuna cemeteries are considered very sacred, and that they should not be visited by outsiders, so we felt particularly lucky to have Idel’s family welcome us to the cemetery while Idel explained some of their beliefs and rituals.  The cemetery consists of a number of palm-frond sheltered family plots, with earthen mounds where the loved one is buried.  Family members visit the cemetery on a weekly basis, sweeping the family plot clean and burning cocoa beans in charcoal.  Idel told us that the burial ceremony consists of the body being put aboard a special ulu adorned with colorful flags, that is guided up the river to the cemetery.  I’m not sure I completely understood, but I think the burial ritual involves this ulu blocking the river entrance for a week while the family of the dead mourns. A few days later one of Idel’s nephews showed me a pint-sized model of a ceremonial ulu/hearse that he had made; another lovely piece of Kuna folk-art.

Kuna burial ulu - lovely piece of folk art.

After Idel showed us around the small cemetery, the women had two hammocks that they hung up on the shelter and they settled in to mind the grave while Idel led us off for a tramp through the jungle. 

Relaxing at the grave site.

Hola, log carrying man.

We slushed through the wet muck of the jungle for a short hike, jumping over lear-cutter ant trails and saying “hola” to an number of men carrying logs on their shoulders as they headed toward the river with their hut-construction materials.  After our hike, Idel’s brother-in-law returned with the yucca from further up the river, and we all piled back into the panga for the return trip.

Back down the river after procuring yucca.

Later that evening Idel took us (along with his wife and niece) to the nearby Island of Sidra where a “Chicha” ceremony was in progress.  This happens once or twice a year when sugarcane is fermented and turned into wine, and then a week of drinking and dancing ensues.  We felt so lucky to have stumbled onto one of these events.  (But, we were told that photography of the ceremony was NOT allowed.)  We approached the island in the dark and followed Idel through the maze of huts to the Chicha building.  

Chicha building at Isla Maquina.
The Chica Casa that we visited at Rio Sidra was four times larger.

The structure is a very large oblong shaped hut, probably about 40 x 60 feet, made of bamboo walls with a 20 ft. high, palm-thatched roof.  Inside there were benches hugging the walls, filled with Kunas, who sat watching the dancers.  Along one wall were several HUGE clay pots in which the chicha (sugar-cane alcohol) is held.  At the center of the hut were two men - shaman - playing bamboo flutes and singing in a language only the shaman know.

Married Kuna women wear beads on their arms and legs.
The beads are placed when they get married,
and are never removed thereafter.

 There were about a dozen pair of dancers; women dressed in their traditional mola blouses, beaded arms and legs, and wrap skirts, while the men wore pink ruffled shirts and shorts or jeans.  They were all barefoot, and the dancing was a complicated choreography of clapping and stomping as they circled the shaman in a counter-clockwise pattern.  The group of dancers circled the shaman for fifteen or twenty minutes, then stopped  for a break, and get a drink. 

Traditional leg beading.

Then a different set of dancers took to the dance floor, with dancers continuing for as long as the shaman sang - often from about 6 pm until after midnight.  Apparently the festivities and evening dancing goes on for a week, starting with drinking of the “chicha”, but as the week wears on, the chicha runs out, and they end up drinking whatever alcohol is available.  According to Idelfonso, this evening was the final night of dancing, and the only thing left to drink was canned beer and a little rum. 

During each break the kids all run to the dance floor and run in circles, playing the Kuna version of crack-the-whip.  During each break the kids would come and grab Jamie’s hand, hauling him around the room to great squeals of giddy laughter.  Several different men also gamely tried to show Dev and I how to do some of the dance moves.  Our attempts at Kuna ritual dancing were a complete failure, but everyone was drunk enough for it to be great entertainment. 

Hanging out with the Restrepos.

We spent several more days visiting with the Restrepo family, and making friends with other Moremake Tupu Islanders.  Brady spent hours giving boys rides on the boogie board pulled behind our dingy, and Jamie played marbles and basketball with the boys on Isla Maquina. 

Kuna kids getting boogie board rides.

Jamie and the Kuna Kayak.

 He also had the chance to use Idelfonso’s dugout “kayak”.   We traded some rope, anchor, and some fishing supplies for a small painted ulu and a few other items.  

Marbles, an international boyhood pastime.

The Restrepo family gave us some yucca, and three ladies paddled out to our boat with a hot pot of this root vegetable to show us how they prepare it, and what it tastes like....which turns out, is very similar to a potato.  

Sophie admires our yucca. Tastes like potato.

Although it was time for us to move on, we hated to go.  These people had become friends, and had freely shared their way of life with us.  With hopes of returning again sometime in the future, we pulled up our anchor and headed off toward our next adventure.

The Restrepo ladies, paddling out to give us a taste of yucca.

Kuna Panther Hunter

You never know what kind of adventures you will have here in the Kuna Yala.  And so,  we had no idea as we left this morning to explore one of the nearby islands that we would return having encountered “The Kuna Panther Hunter”!  

Ready for an adventure...

We decided that we wanted to visit the village of Rio Azucar.  Conveniently, a Kuna panga (water taxi/launch) driver who lives in Rio Azucar stopped by to ask if we needed anything...water, soda, eggs, gasoline...and said he could get anything for us.  We told him we were planning to go to Azucar in our dingy today.  He offered to take us in his panga instead.  It’s about a 5-6 mile round trip, so we agreed to have him take us instead of taking our little dingy.  As we headed of toward the village we took a number of detours, stopping at the various ulus  (Kuna dugout canoes) along the way.  

An ulu pulls up with freshly caught lobsters.

At each ulu our driver picked up lobsters from the guys in the ulus who had obviously been diving all morning.  The lobster guys tossed their catch into a basket that was then weighed by our driver.  

Toss in the basket, and....

....give it a weigh.

No money changed hands, and I’m not sure how they keep track of what they are owed for their catch, because no one wrote the amounts down...but then, their memories are probably better than mine.  The lobsters are then either sold to other “yates” (cruisers on boats), eaten by the Kuna, or are shipped by airplane to Panama City.  We finally arrived at Azucar puebla after picking up lobsters from 4-5 different ulus.  

House and Garden, Rio Azucar style.

Our first impressions about Azucar is that it was MUCH cleaner and neater than the nearby village of Nargana.  Nargana had loads of trash laying around the “streets”.  Well, actually there are no streets, just dirt footpaths.  No cars, golf carts, or bikes.  Just feet.  Like Nargana it appears that Azucar has mostly jettisoned the more traditional Kuna lifestyle, and these islands have electric power for lights, TV and radio.  Most of the women were wearing western clothing rather than the traditional Kuna woman garb of mola blouse, wrap skirt, and beading on their arms and legs.  

We set out in search of eggs, Kuna bread (called madu in the Kuna language), and whatever fresh fruit might be available.  The first tienda turned out to be at the home of our panga driver.  As is typical, most tiendas (stores) in the Kuna Yala are small rooms in a family hut.  And although there are a few houses made of cement blocks, most huts are made of bamboo stick walls, with either a tin or palm frond roof.  

Local Supermarket.  Total produce: one tomato.

Our driver’s store had eggs, cold Coke, Cheetos, bleach, laundry soap and a few cans of pork and beans.  But no fruit of any sort. Well, there was one tomato.  Just one.  We asked if any other stores had fresh fruit or veggies.  Nope.  Nothing.  Apparently that one lone tomato was the sum total of fresh fruit/veggies available at the Azucar puebla.  

Then we found the Bread Hut (this may not be the official name) where we bought 30 loaves - hot out of the oven - for $3.  30 loaves sounds like a lot, but we will go through 30 loaves in a matter of 2-3 days. 

Loaves of Kuna bread.  See pencil for size comparison.

Kuna Bread is much like the Kuna themselves: very small.  This bread comes in the form of mini loaves, slightly smaller than hot dog buns.  They are perfect snack size, and pretty tasty.  (Especially tasty after the awful, “bread” found in Colombia... which is essentially flour crumbles barely held together with I don’t know what... sawdust? glue? cardboard?  spit?   Tastleless and crumbly, it was barely recognizable as bread.  So in comparison, Kuna bread is muy delicioso manna from heaven.)  

We wandered the island a bit, and suddenly one of the boys (who has requested anonymity) needed to go to the bathroom.  There are no public facilities here.  

Typical Kuna restroom.

In fact the family toilets are outhouses constructed on piers out over the water (a literal WC!).  

A friendly gentleman...Sure you can use our facilities!

We happened by a hut with an older gentleman sitting just inside.  He looked friendly, so I asked him if there was a bathroom that my son could use.  He waved my son in through his hut, and then out back past the kitchen (a lean-to with his wife cooking beans over a coconut husk fire) to the outhouse. 

Friendly man's wife, cooking in the kitchen.  

As I followed, the gentleman pointed to a nearby structure and said that was the shower.  He spoke a little English, and was just as sweet and welcoming as could be to a couple of strangers using his outhouse. 

The WC.  Shower building is just to the left.

As we continued our wanderings, we came upon a fellow who was waving and yelling for us to come over, saying “Amigo!  Amigo!”.  As we came closer, he said “Me amigo, JAMIE!” 

Huh?  He knows Jamie’s name?  Turns out this was one of the guys we had talked to the previous day on Green Island who was part of a crew clearing the island for coconut harvesting. (Read our post about coconut farming, here.)  He wanted us to follow him to his house.  

Up the river,  in the jungle, alone...but in daylight.
Panthers come out at night.

He went inside and came out with a skull from an animal that he had killed.  I wasn’t quite sure what kind of skull it was at first because he was talking so excitedly, and explaining his hunting experience.  He had apparently killed the animal up the river, in the jungle, alone, at night.  

Jeepers.  I finally caught the word “pantera”.   Panther.  (Of course, for all I know it was some other large feline...Cougar? Jaguar? Jaguarundi?  Main Coon?)  He explained that the jaguar had killed his pet dog, and so he had exacted revenge.  At least I think that’s what he said.  My Kuna/Espanol is not so bueno.  

And then, he presented Jamie with the skull - a gift, he said.  Then he brought out some crocodile teeth, and feathers that he had collected. 

The skull, and feathers.

He also gave us two cacao fruit, and two huge banana stalks.  (So there IS fresh fruit available, just not in the stores!)  Jamie kept saying, “Am I awake? Is this a dream?”  

Bananas, fresh from the jungle.

Cacao.  This becomes chocolate??

The Panther Hunter and his friend Juan talked to us for a long time telling us over and over about the dude’s brave shooting of the Panther along the river in the jungle at night, with (I think?) a spear gun.  They were both really proud of his accomplishment, and asked that we post the picture of them on Facebook!  

After we were presented with all these gifts, we hopped back in the panga and headed back to our boat, again stopping along the way to collect more lobster from the ulu divers.  

As I thought more about our friend The Panther Hunter, and his request to have his photo posted on Facebook, I had to chuckle.  Although many Kuna have cell phones, internet is not readily available here, so it’s doubtful that our brave hunter is actually active or tag-able on FB.  

Maybe I’ll start a fan page for the “The Kuna Panther Hunter”  Let’s see how many “likes” he can get.

The Panther Hunter, right.  His friend Juan stands to the left of Jamie.
Look for them on Facebook.

Kuna Coconut Farming

Morning in the San Blas Islands

It was early in the morning, and as I lay in bed I felt the unmistakable rocking of our boat caused by the wakes of other boats going by.   This was a bit unusual, as the island we were anchored near was normally quiet and uninhabited.  As I peeked outside, I spied 9 different boats on the shore of the island.  This was not normal.   It was clear that something was going on.  Work of some sort, perhaps?  Jamie wanted to go check out the ulus, and see what was going on on the island.  And so we set out toward shore in our dingy.  

Ulu convention.

A fine sailing vessel.

Ulus at rest. 

We found about 15-20 men spread out over the island, all with machetes.  They were slicing/chopping down the 1-2 foot high grass and weeds that were growing all over the ground.  Then we noticed that they were collecting all the dead palm fronds and other detritus and putting them in piles all over the place.  In my stunted Spanish I asked about the work project.  Turns out these men are all family members; brothers, uncles, fathers, sons from all over the Kuna Yala- villages like Nargana, Azucar, Sidra - from near and far.  This little island belongs to their family. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the coconuts on the island belong to this family. 

Mucho Trabajo: Hard work clearing the land under the coconut palms.

 One very friendly guy explained that if they don’t keep the ground clear and remove the dead fronds that the coconut trees don’t produce well, and may die.  If I understood correctly, this month is the appointed time to clear off this particular island.  They do this every three months or so.  One guy told me that they collect one thousand coconuts from this island every month.  I believe that the coconuts are sold and the money distributed to the family members.  

Piles of detritus that will be burned.

We watched for a bit, and then wandered off to admire the collections of ulus tied to the shore. 

A particularly fine ulu specimen.

Little did we know it, but our short conversation with that one very friendly guy would lead to yet another interesting adventure a few days later.  Read more about our experience with this cool dude -"The Panther Hunter" - in an upcoming post.