Archipiélago de San Blas: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Although the Kuna have lived in Eastern Panama for at least two centuries, their origins are fiercely debated by scholars. Language similarities with people who once lived several hundred kilometers to the west would indicate that the Kuna migrated eastward. However, oral tradition has it that the Kuna migrated to San Blás from Colombia after the 16th century, following a series of devastating encounters with other tribes armed with poison-dart blowguns.

Regardless of the Kuna's origins, scholars agree that life on the islands is relatively new for them. Historians at the end of the 18th century wrote that the only people who used the San Blás islands at that time were pirates, Spaniards and the odd explorer. However, the Kuna flourished on the archipelago due to the abundance of fresh fish, lobster, shrimp, crab and octopus. This subsistence diet was supplemented by crops such as rice, yams, yucca, bananas and pineapples, which were grown in plots on the mainland, a short distance away.

Modern History

Following a violent uprising on February 25, 1925 against the Panamanian police who had been occupying the islands, the Kuna were granted permission to implement their own system of governance and economy while still maintaining their language, representation in the Panamanian legislature and full voting rights.

Until the late 1990s, the district's principal currency was the coconut. The Kuna grow coconuts like crazy: in a good year they'll harvest more than 30 million of them. They barter away most of these to Colombians, who make the rounds of Kuna towns in old wooden schooners, each of which can hold 50,000 to 80,000 coconuts. In return for the fruit, the Colombians give the Kuna clothing, jars of coffee, vinegar, rice, sunglasses, canned milk, batteries, soups and other goods.

Recent History

Today there are an estimated 70,000 Kuna: 32,000 live on the district's islands, 8000 live on tribal land along the coast and 30,000 live outside the Comarca. So communal are the island Kuna that they inhabit only 48 of the nearly 400 cays. On the inhabited islands, so many traditional bamboo-sided, thatched-roof houses are clustered together that there's scarcely room to walk between them.

Island chiefs passed a law a few years ago prohibiting outsiders from owning property in the district. They promptly forced out the handful of foreigners living on the islands without compensation, ensured limitations on tourism in the region, and prevented foreigners from speculating real estate and driving up living costs. Today, there are fewer than a dozen places to stay on the islands, and each hotel is 100% owned and managed by local Kuna families.

In recent years, the sale of molas (colorful hand-stitched appliqué textiles) has replaced the sale of coconuts as the Kuna's number one revenue source.

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