Colorful Kuna
What is the most distinctive and easy to identify group in Panama? Ask anyone there and they will probably say it is the colorful Kuna, an indigenous tribe. Most of them live in the San Blas islands and run the resorts and hotels there. That said, Panama City’s old town (Casco Viejo) is the easiest place to find them.
Why? because Casco is crawling with tourists who are looking for something from the country to take home, and so many Kuna have wisely set up stalls there to sell their unique handicrafts to tourists. It is the Kuna who make molas, those intricate, multi-colored reverse-applique panels.
Molas are one of the most popular souvenirs of the country. The resourceful Kuna sell not only mola panels, but anything and everything they can create with one: T-shirts, potholders, bedspreads, wall hangings, you name it.
Actually, mola means “clothing” in the Kuna language. The women make their brilliantly hued dresses using molas and also decorate their legs by wrapping their calves with strings of tiny, vivid beads. Their husbands, though, prefer to wear Western clothing.
Kuna don’t like to have their photos taken, though. They rightly believe that if people are profiting from selling their images on the internet they should compensate the Kuna as well. So if you intend to take a photo, be sure to pay her for it.
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