The San Blas islands located on the Carribean side of Panama are home to a unique tribe of people known as the Kuna Indians.  The Kuna Indians are best known for the beautiful hand-crafted works of art known as molas.  They are also known for their maintained desire to keep their ways of life and traditions alive during a time of intense modernization.  These traditions include specific gender roles that are followed and respected by all members of the community.  For the Kuna, women have specific duties that are held in esteem and respect. 

In daily life, tasks are divided between the women and men.  Women will work on cleaning the house, sewing and making female clothing, mola making, preparing food, collecting water, unloading of boats and washing of all clothing.  Women used to also prepare land for crops using a slash and burn method, while men would be out hunting wild game.  Today, the Kuna rely less heavily on hunting and more on farming which has shifted the role back to the men. 

The Kuna also exhibit a matriarchal society.  When a woman marries a man, the new husband comes to live with his wife’s family.  He is then expected to work for his father-in-law as an apprentice.  This type of society is beneficial to the families with lots of daughters who will then bring in more men to help with the work. Women will also be the receivers of inheritance. 

Kuna women continue to dress very traditionally.  This includes gold rings in the nose and ears, wrist bands that go up the length of the arms made of beads, traditional mola, and head scarf.  Many women also paint markings on their faces with a blue dye made from Jagua fruit. 

A curious oddity of the Kuna people is the high instance of albinism in the population.  One out of every hundredth Kuna is an albino.  The cause of this condition has not been studied due to the reluctance of allowing scientists to step foot into the society.  Known to the Kuna as “Moon Children”, the story of how albinos came to be is thought to be the result of either parent gazing at the moon for a long period of time during the pregnancy.  This conditions hampers both men and women as they cannot work during the day when the sun is at its highest and brightest point.  Albino women must work indoors during the day and have a less active role in duties that are carried out outside during the day.  But just like their darker counterparts, albino Kuna women are also well- dressed with the traditional clothing and jewelry and are still regarded as regular members of the Kuna society. 

Just like with any other society, whether it be modern or traditional, the Kuna women have an important role in every day life.  The Kuna have continued to keep their lifestyle and society as traditional as possible and the Kuna women have no doubt helped contribute to keeping it that way. 

Reference:

http://www.sciencejoywagon.com/kwirt/mola/history.htm

http://thorup.com/cuna.html

http://gsevenier.online.fr/kunacultureeng.html