During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to learn about people and places around the world that weren’t familiar to me. One of the treasures of Panama is the culture of the Guna (sometimes spelled Kuna) People, an indigenous group.
The Guna Yala province is where the Guna People live.
San Blas Islands
The Guna Yala province includes the San Blas Islands, an archipelago off the north coast of Panama with 49 inhabited islands (and a bunch more that are uninhabited).
Molas
The Guna people are known for their tradition of decorating with colorful designs. Before the arrival of Europeans, they decorated their bodies with these intricate patterns. The missionaries that arrived encouraged them to wear more clothing, so they copied the designs onto textiles. They call them Molas.
Aren’t they beautiful? The full traditional outfit of the Guna women includes a patterned wrapped skirt, a red and yellow headscarf, a mola blouse, and jewelry. The traditional design includes geometrical patterns, but in the last 50 years or so, they have also depicted flowers, sea animals, and birds.
The Panamanian government attempted to “westernize” the Guna people at the beginning of the 20th century by prohibiting their language and customs, including their traditional dress. The Guna people fought a revolution in 1925 to regain the right to govern their own territory. That might help you understand just how much their culture and traditions mean to the Guna people.
I had the opportunity to “meet” my first Guna friend through Facebook. I have Facebook connections with many travel industry people all over the world, so I must have shown up as a friend suggestion to Elias Perez. We had several mutual friends, so I knew he was a real person and I accepted his request.
Elias grew up in Guna Yala. After high school, he moved to Panama City to study at the National University of Panama. After that, he won a scholarship to Georgetown University and lived in San Antonio, Texas, for a year while he studied education at Palo Alto College. He returned to Guna Yala to teach. He now teaches at a school on the small island of Corbiski during the week and works in the tourism industry on weekends.
Elias sent me some pictures of beautiful mola facemasks that he sold as a fundraiser for the school where he teaches. The Guna women of the San Blas Islands made them.
I was eager to buy one of these beautiful creations. The craftsmanship is remarkable. During the dark days of 2020, this was a highlight for me: getting a souvenir from a country even when it was impossible to travel
Another interesting tidbit about the Guna people is that they are among the healthiest people in the world. Their rates of heart disease and cancer are 20 times lower than ours! Scientists believe it is because they drink a lot of hot chocolate! Cocoa is rich in the micronutrient flavanol.
I asked Elias if he drinks it and he said he does. He said it gives him energy.
I decided I wanted to try it and went searching for a recipe. There is no sugar in the recipe; all the sweetness comes from bananas.
Guna Hot Chocolate
1 ¾ cup water
1 banana, cut into chunks
4 heaping teaspoons cacao powder (preferred) or cocoa powder
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cayenne pepper
Boil banana chunks with the water for 10 minutes on a medium heat. Use a spoon and then a whisk (or an immersion blender) to break up the banana and then add the cocoa. Boil for 5 more minutes and flavor with spices to taste.
Visit the San Blas Islands
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at the Guna culture of Panama. If you would like to visit Panama and the beautiful San Blas Islands, please let me know. I would love to plan a trip for you to visit this remote tropical paradise. Read about how my services work.
