Culture Summary of the Kuna People

The Kuna are an ethnolinguistic group located mainly in eastern Panama. A few Kuna are found within the national territory of Colombia, but most of what is known about the group pertains to the Panamanian population. The majority of the Kuna--20,831 in 1940--reside in villages in the San Blas archipelago region, while an additional 1,000-5,000 live along inland watercourses (Marshall 1950: 167; Stout 1947: 14). Their present distribution is the result of migrations, which began in the mid-1800s, from highland riverside locations on the islands of San Blas. Some Kuna remained in the mountain regions, and most of their descendants live along the Bayano and Chucuaque rivers. This geographical separation has led modern observers to divide the group into the Mainland or Mountain Kuna, and the San Blas Kuna. There is little contact between the two groups, and there appear to be some differences between them in such matters as subsistence activities and degree of acculturation. Since the Mountain group has tended to discourage outside contacts and is, therefore, relatively unstudied, a discussion of the degree of variation between the two groups is impossible. But they are identified by their common language, Kuna. This language is presently classified as one of the Central American languages of the Eastern Chibchan group within the Macro-Chibchan phylum (Voegelin and Voegelin 1965: 25-28).

The climate of Panama is hot and humid. The average annual temperature is 27 degrees C. in Colon, with somewhat lower temperatures in higher altitudes, and there is little annual fluctuation. Rainfall is heavy, averaging 254 cm. annually, and seasonal. January to May is considered the dry season, and May to September is the time of the heaviest rains. Most of the Kuna territory is marshy and covered with tropical forest or secondary growth. In contrast, the San Blas Islands inhabited by the Kuna have been cleared of most growth, except for coconut trees, and are covered with a layer of sand.

The Kuna have had a long and varied history of contact with Europeans, beginning in the early 1500s with the arrival of the Spanish. Reconstructions would seem to indicate that the Kuna lived along inland waterways and had a mixed subsistence strategy based on horticulture, hunting, fishing, and collecting. The aboriginal social structure is thought to have been one of highly stratified villages, each with its own chief, nobles, commoners, and slaves. Warfare was probably common, especially against the neighboring Choco and Catio people.

The arrival of the Spanish opened a period of deculturation and decimation. Many Kuna were killed in warfare or by European diseases, and the Spanish used harsh measures in extracting tribute and labor from the indigenous populations. Often the Kuna allied themselves with the British against the Spanish. This pattern of hostility toward Spanish-speakers, contrasted with amicable relations with English-speakers, has continued in modern times. After independence from Spain, the Kuna eventually aligned themselves with Panama rather than Colombia. In 1925 they staged a rebellion, which resulted in the San Blas area becoming a largely autonomous Kuna reserve within the Republic of Panama, a political status it still holds today. The Kuna in the twentieth century are undergoing a population increase, and, although remaining somewhat outside the mainstream of Panamanian society, they are increasingly influenced by Western culture.

At present, the Kuna economy is based on a mixture of hunting, fishing, collecting, horticulture, trade, and migratory work. Peccaries, squirrels, tapirs, agoutis, monkeys, deer, birds, and iguanas are the principal species hunted. Hunting techniques include the use of bow and arrow, blowguns, spears, shotguns, and pits. Nets, bow and arrow, hook and line, and weirs are used in fishing, while turtling involves the use of nets and decoys. Hunting has decreased in importance as the men have focused their activities on slash-and-burn horticulture, formerly a female activity. Major crops include bananas, plantains, corn, yams, sweet potatoes, rice, sugarcane, sweet manioc, avocados, coconuts, and other tropical fruits. Except for coconuts, all crops are grown on the mainland, and the island-dwelling Kuna must travel by dugout canoe or sailboat to their lands. They are also dependent on the mainland for their water supply. Besides supplying the bulk of the Kuna diet, these crops are used in trade conducted on a cash basis. Wage labor opportunities outside the Kuna area in urban centers or with various U.S. enterprises in Panama have attracted an increasing number of Kuna, though usually on a short-term basis. The modern Kuna economy is highly cash oriented, and just about everything from land to esoteric knowledge may be bought and sold.

Kuna villages vary in size and degree of modernization, but they exhibit structural similarities. The basic unit is the household, usually comprised of a matrilocal extended family. The head of the household is the oldest male, who is most frequently the father or father-in-law of the other household men. His wife holds a somewhat analogous authority over the activities of the other females in the household. On the death of the household head, he may be succeeded by the oldest surviving male, or the household may split into several independent units. Kinship is bilateral, and inheritance follows consanguineal lines. Marriages are arranged by parents. Beyond restrictions against marriage to close relatives and a preference for marriage between economic equals, there are few restrictions or preferences in the choice of marriage partners. Divorces are permissible. Polygyny, though allowed, is infrequent and confined to the wealthy. Infanticide is known and, in the past, albino infants were frequently put to death. Although it appears to be dying out, the most notable life crisis ceremony is the girl's puberty ceremony.

Above the household level Kuna village organization is marked by incipient economic stratification. Knowledge of Kuna tradition is still an important determinant of status and is the basis on which village chiefs are elected by the adult men to lifetime terms. Chiefs have a number of assistants, the number varying with the needs of the village. The authority of the chief depends more on his ability to persuade than on his office. Decisions on communal activities are reached in meetings of all adult males. Chiefs also hold singing meetings in which they relate Kuna history and exhort villagers to behave properly. Social control is largely on the informal level, and disputes are settled by the interested parties.

It is likely that in aboriginal times the village was the highest level of integration. In post-Columbian times, however, a process of consolidation of leadership eventually led to there being a single chief, elected from among the village chiefs, who mediated between the Kuna and outside governments. In the early 1900s, the death of one of these chiefs resulted in the formation of two political parties, which differed on the issues of the chief's successor, alliance with Panama versus Colombia, and the extent to which modernization should be encouraged. Although ideological differences are largely a thing of the past, most Kuna belong to one or the other party, and party politics are important in choosing chiefs and representatives.

The Kuna religious system is intimately tied up with their medical system. There are several types of magico-religious practitioners, including seers, chanters, and cursers, some of whom specialize in epidemics. Thus far the Kuna have resisted missionization.

The 1920s and 1930s mark the heyday of Swedish ethnographers' interest in the Kuna. Nordenskiold (1938) is the largest collection of native texts, covering such diverse topics as history, mythology, songs, medical-religious practices, and vocabularies. It also contains a brief ethnographic introduction. A brief summary of Kuna life, including a few good photographs, may also be found in Weyer (n.d.: 75-81).

Copyright © Eleanor C. Swanson