Vintage apparel

San Blas Islands, Panama 🇵🇦

The Kuna's are an indigenous group of people sharing the borders of Colombia and Panama for hundreads of years.  The Kuna live in three politically autonomous comarcas or reservations in Panama, and in a few small villages in colombia.  There are also communities of Kuna people in Panama City, Colón, and other cities.  Most Kunas live on small islands off the coast of the comarca of Guna Yala known as the San Blas Islands.  A few Kunas people still survive in marginal areas.  The total population of Kunas remaining is estimated at about 50,000 peoples throughout Panamanian and Colombian territory.

The Kuna are famous for their bright molas, a colorful textile art form made with the techniques of appliqué and reverse appliqué.  Mola panels are used to make the blouses of the Kuna women's national dress, which is worn daily by many Kuna women.  Mola means "clothing" in the Kuna language.  The kuna word for a mola blouse is Tulemola, (or"dulemola") "Kuna people's clothing."