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BERNIE KATCHOR’s Web Site |
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Kunas: The almost pygmy sized Indians that inhabit the SanBlas Island off Panama |
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Yvonne at 5 ft 2” towers over the Siliah or Chief of an inland Kuna village demonstrating these wonderful pople arenear pygmy size |
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We went for a full day walk with another Silah who was a medicine man. He was collecting dozens of different headache medicines. Here he shows sample |
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A grandaughter and grandmother. The younger is 17 yrs and has a beautiful child. As she has been caring for siblings since she was 4 yrs she was far more competant at motherhood than many of our 35 yr old mothers |
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The Kunas is matriachal society. The women are in charge of the family and its finances. These beautiful caring women wear a mola around their midrif. This is a layer of up to 6 different coloured cloths and the design is formed by cutting down to the colour required. Incredibly fine hand stitching is use to finish the mola. |
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Sewing a mola |
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We really enjoyed the gentle older ladies many of whom spoke Spanish enough for us to converse. Their language is Kuna. |
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Mobile phones had been available for 3 days and the lady with the pipe was already selling phone time |
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3 sisters showing their molas |
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The village women set out molas for us to buy |
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The San Blas Islands are a cruisers delight with clear water, excellent coral reef for snorkellers and good fishing. We really enjoyed the mainland behind the hundreds of Islands with its jungle walks and rivers to explore. The Kunas farm the mainland and we often walked for miles to the farms following farmers to avoid being lost. |
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A typical island is shown along with a jungle trail and a village |
