San Blas - Culture

Located in the north-western part of Panama, the area is accessible by flight from Panama City to Playos Chico. San Blas has remained virtually untouched by commercial development. Your adventure could be a stay at an uninhabited island, a fishing tour, snorkelling and diving, a relaxing sunbathe, or a look into the remote cultures of the Indians

Home to the Cuna Indians, the San Blas Islands stretch along the Atlantic coast of Panama from Colon to Colombia. The Comarca de San Blas is comprised of the San Blas Archipelago, made up of over 365 islands off the northern coast of Panama, and a strip of land along the Caribbean coast from the province of Colon to Colombia. These Caribbean islands, most of them uninhabited, are like little jewels set in a turquoise background, with white sand beaches, warm crystalline waters and vibrant coral reefs perfect for swimming and snorkelling. These islands are also home to the Kuna, who have been granted self- rule by the Panamanian government. They have maintained their language, customs, and traditions, and have passed a law making them the only people allowed to own land within the province’s borders or reside there permanently. The Kuna are famous for their Molas, multicoloured fabric intricately stitched by hand using the technique of reverse appliqué, made by the women. Arriving in San Blas, a truly enchanting place, is like going back in time 100 years. It is, without a doubt, a “primitive paradise”.

Cuna women the range of themes for body painting was diverse; the range of themes for their molas appears endless. While designs of the earliest molas tended to be geometric abstractions, by the 1940s Cuna women had kindled an interest in the recreation of traditional themes common to body painting, e.g., the animals, trees and men mentioned by Wafer

Molas are made in San Blas, Panama. San Blas is an independent state of Panama owned by a people who speak a dialect called Cuna, and so are referred to as Cuna by outsiders. They call themselves Tule, meaning "The People". San Blas encompasses the southern half of the eastern coast of Panama, and includes 365 off-shore atolls protected by a barrier reef. Tule reside in villages on about 50 of the islands, using the remaining land for food cultivation.

Molas as a commodity found strong markets in Europe, the United States, and Japan, until recently Panamanians did not buy them in large part because they viewed folk art as "inferior." However, the purchase of molas by Panamanians became significant after the invasion of Panama by the United States in 1989. While many in Panama detested Manuel Noriega and his henchmen, most resented the United States' solution to the problem. Buying and wearing molas, which represented something that was indisputably Panamanian, became a quiet form of national protest against the forceful foreign policy of their northern neighbour. And in the 1990s what had been an expression of national pride became acceptable as fashion. Responding to the high praise for molas outside Panama, the upper classes of the country have also accepted them as fashion.
Molas, then have historically served a variety of purposes. They have expressed Cuna traditions and independence and have protected Cuna Culture; they have commented on Cuna Society and expressed opinions about Panamanian politics and politicians; they have expressed the national pride of all of Panama in the face of an interventionist United States