Kuna

By Karin E. Tice, Ian Skoggard, and John Beierle

Cuna, Tule, Tulemala.

The Kuna are one of Panama's three major groups of indigenous peoples. Most of the Kuna live in the COMARCA (district) of San Blas, or Kuna Yala, along Panama's northern coast. Literally "Kuna Yala" means Kuna Land. The COMARCA of San Blas is the legal name of the region, but the CONGRESO General Kuna has petitioned the Panamanian government to have the name of the region officially changed to Kuna Yala. "Cuna" and "Kuna" are Spanish designations; the ethnonyms "Tule" and "Tulemala" are in the Kuna language.The COMARCA of San Blas lies along the northeastern coast of Panama. It is comprised of a long, narrow strip of mainland jungle extending 200 kilometers along the coast and 15 to 20 kilometers inland and an archipelago of 365 small islands. A single road links San Blas to the Pan-American Highway and to the rest of Panama. The road is only passable in a four-wheel drive vehicle and, as of 1985, had not been used for regular transport of people or agricultural produce. Because of road conditions, most travel in and out of the region is by plane or boat.

The estimated 1995 population of San Blas Kuna is 50,000 to 70,000. There are fifty-four communities ranging in size from 70 to over 2,000 inhabitants each. Forty-two of these communities are located on small islands, ten are situated on the mainland coast, and two are inland, on the riverbanks. All the inhabited islands are no farther than about 1.5 kilometers from the mainland coast and the mouth of a freshwater river. Proximity to the coast makes daily travel possible from the islands to the Kuna's agricultural field on the mainland. Freshwater mainland rivers provide an easily accessible source of water for drinking, bathing, and washing clothes.

In addition to the San Blas Kuna, or the Island Kuna, as they are called, there are Kuna who live outside the COMARCA. Approximately 10,000 Kuna live in Panama City and Colón, the two largest cities in Panama. Many of these individuals retain close ties with San Blas and consider the region their home. About ten other small villages, with a combined population of fewer than 2,000, are located in the Darién jungle.

Kuna, or Tule Kaya, is the primary language spoken in San Blas. Many Kuna also speak Spanish, Panama's official language. A considerable number of Kuna speak some English, especially those who have traveled internationally on trade boats in the Canal Zone. A few individuals know other languages such as French, Russian, or Chocó (spoken by the Chocó Indians who inhabit the Darién).

When the Spaniards arrived, the Kuna lived primarily near the Gulf of Urabá in what is today Colombia. Contact with the Spanish, which began in the 1600s, was violent, and trade was limited. Fleeing from the Spaniards, the Kuna traveled up the jungle rivers and settled in the Darién region of what is now Panama. As early as the mid-1800s, entire Kuna villages started to relocate gradually to the sandy islands near the mouths of freshwater rivers. Moving to the islands gave the Kuna easier access to trade vessels plying coastal routes and freedom from disease-carrying insects.

When Panama became an independent nation in 1903, the new government attempted to impose by force a "national culture" on the Kuna. In 1925 the Kuna staged a rebellion (La Revolución Tule, or the Kuna Revolution), and with the backing of the U.S. government were able to negotiate a semiautonomous status for their region. In 1938 the region was officially recognized as a Kuna reserve, and their new constitution, known as la carta orgánica de San Blas, was approved in 1945. Legal recognition of San Blas as a territory collectively owned by the Kuna people had implications for the economic organization of the region. The carta orgánica prohibited non-Kuna from purchasing, renting, or otherwise using land within Kuna territory. This law has been used by the Kuna to try to ensure that all enterprise within the San Blas region is owned and operated by Kuna rather than by outsiders. A subsequent law (Ley 16), passed by the Panamanian government in 1953, further delineated the reserve's boundaries, as well as political and economic relations between the Kuna and the national government. Political and economic relationships between San Blas and the rest of Panama continue to be the subject of negotiation.

Today most Kuna villages are located in four distinct areas. Most are situated in the COMARCA of San Blas. Three others are near the headwaters of the Río Bayano, and seven are located along the Río Chucunaque near a hydroelectric dam; all ten are in the Darién jungle. A few small communities can be found in Colombia. Kuna also live in Panama City and Colón and a few live abroad. In San Blas, island communities are crowded; there is scant space between the houses, which are constructed of locally produced materials. The Kuna live in large matrilocal households composed of senior couples, their married daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and in-married, subordinate sons-in-law. Households usually span three or four generations. Generally, the compound includes a kitchen and one or more sleeping houses. Most Kuna sleep in hammocks, which are strung from the supporting beams of the house. Clothes are draped over bamboo poles suspended from the rafters or are stored in wooden or cardboard boxes. Most houses have bamboo walls and thatched roofs, but some Kuna have built two-story cement houses with corrugated-metal roofs. These structures often house a store, in addition to providing living space.

The Kuna practice slash-and-burn agriculture and use intercropping techniques. Although plantains are now their primary subsistence crop, they also grow rice, maize, yucca (manioc), sugarcane, coconuts, fruits (such as mangoes, pineapples, lemons, limes, and oranges), and hot peppers. Fishing, hunting, and gathering supplement the Kuna diet. Some households keep a pig to slaughter for a special occasion.

The most common source of cash income is the export of coconuts to Colombia and MOLAS (multilayered panels of cloth cut away to reveal intricate patterns and then carefully hand stitched) to the United States, Europe, and Japan. Coconuts have been exchanged with Colombian traders for goods or cash since the late 1800s. MOLAS were commercialized in a major way starting in the 1960s. Kuna women sew MOLA panels into their blouses (also called MOLAS), and sew panels and other items (e.g., small MOLA patches, animal pillows, pockets, purses, Christmas-tree ornaments) specifically for sale. MOLA commercialization occurred concurrently with an increase in Kuna male migration in search of wage labor and a consequent decrease in subsistence-agriculture production. Lobsters and, to a lesser extent, crabs and octopuses began to be harvested for export starting in the 1960s; however, because diving for and preserving the catch require special equipment, and because only young men dive, the impact of this commercial activity has not been as widespread as that of the production of MOLAS.

Tourism, primarily concentrated in the western third of San Blas, increased dramatically during the 1960s. Most tourists visit the region in luxury cruise ships. Some visit one of several Kuna- or foreign-owned small hotel resorts.

Sewing MOLAS is the primary art form for Kuna women and for OMEKITS (Kuna men who are socially defined as women). Some women have special gifts for creating and cutting MOLA designs and for fashioning WINI, strings of tiny colored beads worn wrapped around the forearms and lower legs of Kuna women to form geometric designs. WINI, MOLA blouses, wraparound skirts, head scarves made from imported cloth, and a gold nose ring are considered "traditional dress" for women. Most women in San Blas dress "traditionally." A few elderly women still make hammocks and ceramic vessels, but these traditional crafts are rapidly disappearing as commercial goods become increasingly available. Kuna men make baskets, ladles, wooden stools, and fans that women use to keep the fires burning. Some men make their own clothing: a solid-colored shirt with pleats in the front and a pair of pants, also without designs. Most Kuna men, however, wear Western clothing. Men who live in the area frequented by tourists carve small model boats and balsa-wood Kuna doll heads to sell to visitors. Dugout wooden canoes are handcrafted by men who have learned this special skill.

Starting in the 1600s, the Kuna engaged in lucrative trade with the Scots, the French, and with the British colony of Jamaica. Kuna chiefs learned European languages and traveled throughout the Caribbean. The Kuna also traded with pirates as early as the 1600s. A Scottish colony was established in the area in 1698. Alliances and trade relations with Kuna communities were developed and maintained until the 1700s, when the Spanish expelled the Scots. In the 1700s the French began to trade with the Kuna and to forge military alliances that protected both parties from the Spanish and British. Relations were sufficiently amicable to allow intermarriage. In the 1740s, however, the French began to cultivate cacao for export and, soon thereafter, to use Kuna labor. Relations between the two groups deteriorated; the Kuna rebelled, attacking the French settlers and driving them from the region. Taking over the production of cacao (about 100,000 trees on an estimated seventy-three properties), the Kuna began to trade with the British for guns, ammunition, tools, and cloth. By the 1850s, maritime trade with pirates and merchants was well developed, and trade continues to provide the Kuna with a steady source of goods.

Nowadays the Kuna are actively engaged in commerce with Colombians on boats; they trade coconuts for sugar, rice, cocoa, or cash. Trade boats, most of which are collectively owned by Kuna villages, travel to Colón (an international trade zone), returning to San Blas with a wide range of goods. Kuna storekeepers and itinerant traders acquire their merchandise either directly from Panama City or from the trade boats. Interregional trading of agricultural produce is minimal; plantains and roof thatch, abundant in the east, are mostly sold to communities in the west, where they are needed. MOLAS, coconuts, and lobsters are the region's primary exports. Although the Kuna still produce much of the goods they consume, they import a wide range of consumer goods including boat motors, cookware, clothing, shoes, certain staples (cocoa, rice, sugar), cement, guns, harpoons, lanterns, tape decks, and radios.

Concurrent with commercialization of coconuts and relocation of many mainland villages to the islands, Kuna men increasingly took over subsistence-agricultural production as women turned their attention to the coconut trade. This shift did not occur in all Kuna communities, nor did it happen all at once. Despite the variations, however, men generally took increased responsibility for plantain, maize, rice, yucca, fruit, and sugarcane production. Both men and women still planted, weeded, and harvested coconuts, but the women from each household were usually the ones to exchange them for goods or cash.

Women continue to be responsible for child care; food gathering, preparation, and preservation; hauling water; and other tasks related to household maintenance. They also sew MOLAS for themselves, their daughters, and elderly mothers. Men continue to engage in agricultural production and to hunt, fish, build houses, and craft many necessary household items. Women in the eastern region of San Blas and older women throughout the region are active in agricultural production. Women who spend most of their time sewing MOLAS for sale are the least involved in agricultural and household-maintenance activities. OMEKITS usually work alongside women but may also participate in men's activities. Many OMEKITS in the region are known as outstanding sewers of MOLAS. Kuna men seek wage labor opportunities especially in the Canal Zone, Panama City, Colón, and on Changuinola -- a banana plantation. Outside San Blas, few job opportunities are available for Kuna women, but within the region, wage-labor opportunities are equally accessible to Kuna men and women. Such salaried government positions as those of teacher and health worker are filled by both sexes. A few positions, such as air-traffic controller, national guardsman, and agricultural-extension worker, are occupied only by men, but either men or women can be airport attendants, accountants, or store clerks within the community.

Private property did not exist among the Kuna until the mid- to late nineteenth century. Increased population pressure and the cash cropping of coconuts are factors that precipitated this change. Since 1938, all lands located within the COMARCA of San Blas have been owned collectively by the San Blas Kuna, although they do not own subsoil rights. The Kuna recognize individuals' rights to land. According to Kuna law, whoever first clears a plot may pass the land to his heirs. Because only men clear land, women generally inherit easily accessible, already producing fields. Women's brothers are expected to clear unclaimed land and often inherit fallow plots. Heirs retain their rights to land even if it has not been cultivated for many years.

The Kuna kinship system is bilateral. Age and sex are reflected in kin terms. Cross and parallel cousins are not terminologically distinguished. Kinship terms are often used in place of personal names.

In the past, young people did not choose their own partners. A girl's father and mother chose a young man, based on his ability to work, and made arrangements for the marriage, usually without the knowledge of either young person. Today young people usually choose their own partners. Couples may "marry in the hammock" -- a short ritual that is considered the "traditional" form of marriage. Alternatively, they may present themselves to the CONGRESO (a politico-religious community gathering) and state their intention to marry. Unmarried men who move in with women are considered "married," and such couples are expected to notify the CONGRESO. Some of the younger women who meet their future husbands in Panama City marry there according to civil law. Religious ceremonies either in San Blas or in Panama City are another possibility. Children take their biological father's surname unless he refuses to recognize his baby, in which case the child uses the mother's name. No apparent stigma is attached to the mother or to children bearing her name. Women retain their own names. No money, food, land, or other goods are exchanged between households before, during, or after the marriage. Island endogamy prevails, and interracial marriages are frowned upon. Once married, a man is expected to reside in his mother-in-law's household and to work under the direction of his father-in-law. Any fish caught, game hunted, or produce harvested (even from fields to which he owns the rights) must be given to his mother-in-law to distribute.

The prototypical Kuna household is comprised of a senior couple, one or more married daughters with their husbands and children, and any unmarried children. Households may reorganize any number of times within the life span of any given generation. For example, a woman may return to her mother's household each time her husband goes to Panama City to work. Kin, unrelated children, visitors, teachers, or other government-paid employees working in the village -- even an anthropologist -- may join any given household for several days, months, or even years.

Inheritance of land is bilateral. Although Kuna sons and daughters inherit approximately equal amounts of land, men have greater possibilites for acquiring land than do women. Women inherit but do not lay claim to new plots of land. Only men clear uncultivated land. For example, virgin jungle may be claimed by clearing and cultivating a plot. Whoever clears the land retains usufruct rights, which are passed to his children. Spouses do not inherit land from one another. Husband and wife each retain rights to his or her own property and other resources. If one spouse dies, his or her property is distributed among his or her offspring.

Coconut groves, located on the mainland coast or on uninhabited islands, may be inherited by an individual or by groups (descended from a male or female ancestor) that collectively own and exploit coconut groves and, sometimes, agricultural lands.

Infants are raised primarily by their mothers and grandmothers with the help of other female relatives. At around the age of 5, boys start accompanying their fathers and other male relatives to the fields and on hunting and fishing trips. Girls stay with their female relatives. Adolescent girls help with the care of their younger siblings. Since about the 1960s, Kuna boys and girls have been required to attend primary school. Many youths go on to secondary school and high school; a few attend the university.

The Kuna are known for their egalitarian forms of social organization. Most agricultural labor in San Blas is organized at the community and household levels or through small collective entrepreneurial groups called SOCIEDADES (voluntary associations). All males and females of appropriate age are required to participate in community work projects and are fined if they do not. The senior male and female of each household are responsible for the organization of its labor. SOCIEDADES, which are prevalent, consist of aggregates of friends, relatives, and neighbors. They are organized around specific activities such as selling gasoline, operating a retail store, or engaging in subsistence-agricultural production or coconut cultivation. Kuna households and/or individuals may have different amounts of land or money. Factors affecting socioeconomic differentiation include the amount of land a household controls, ancestors' level of industriousness in planting coconuts, the extent to which current household members have planted coconuts, opportunities for paid employment, and income from MOLA sales. Age is another key variable in determining differences in wealth. Older men and women hold most of the land, whereas young migrant laborers obtain consumer goods and cash. Wealthier households in San Blas do not automatically accrue political power, nor do they usually appropriate the labor of poorer ones. Inheritance patterns tend to prevent the accumulation of wealth and ensure the redistribution of rights to land and to coconut trees among households across the generations.

Each Kuna village has a local CONGRESO (community meeting house). Every village in San Blas has four to six traditional or administrative SAKLAS. Traditional SAKLAS are considered political as well as religious leaders. Ranks and strata are absent, and very little social distance separates leaders and followers. Leaders are chosen for their wisdom and morality; leadership is not hereditary. After the 1925 Kuna uprising known as "La Revolución Tule," a CONGRESO GENERAL Kuna, comprised of local authorities representing each village, was established. The CONGRESO GENERAL Kuna created a unified political entity that can negotiate with the Panamanian government. Today it meets approximately every six months; emergency sessions are called if a crisis occurs. The region has three CACIQUES (chiefs), each responsible for a particular subregion, and a regionwide INTENDENTE (administrator). CACIQUES are selected from Kuna leaders at the local level, whereas the INTENDENTE, until the 1990s always a non-Kuna, is named by Panama's president. In 1968 new political boundaries were drawn throughout Panama. San Blas became politically and administratively separate from the province of Colón. Government ministries, previously administered through Colón, opened regional offices in San Blas. The COMARCA of San Blas was divided into four sub-areas called CORREGIMIENTOS. Each area elects one representative to the ASAMBLEA NACIONAL DE REPRESENTANTES DE CORREGIMIENTOS Local chapters of a wide range of political parties were organized within their communities. In most villages, women organized their own chapters and activities separately from the men's, even within the same political party. Women have become increasingly active in politics at the national level. In 1980 the Kuna elected a Kuna representative to the national legislature.

Within a household, the eldest man and woman exercise the most authority. He is responsible for organizing the labor of the men, she that of the women. At the village level, the local CONGRESOS are the loci for social control. In the past, public shamings were sufficient control mechanisms. Today CONGRESOS levy fines and require community labor in addition to public shaming. The region has several jails. Serious cases are referred to the Panamanian judicial system.

Disputes that cannot be resolved within a household are taken to the local CONGRESO. There is ongoing conflict both with the Panamanian national government and with outsiders (non-Kuna Panamanians or U.S. citizens) trying to establish businesses (usually hotels, tourist resorts, or stores) in the region or to convert the Kuna to a particular religion. There are also occasional confrontations with COLONOS (settlers) from the interior who encroach upon Kuna land. The Kuna have developed the Project for the Study of the Management of Wildland Areas of Kuna Yala (PEMASKY) to help firmly establish the COMARCA'S borders and to stop the deforestation of their rain forest. This project has received substantial support from international funding sources.

The Kuna creation myth includes references to both Pab Dummat (Big Father) and Nan Dummat (Big Mother). The Kuna religion is now called the "Father's Way." Communities alternate political meetings in the local CONGRESOS with singing gatherings where SAKLAS and CACIQUES chant religious and historical songs full of symbolism and myth, and the ARKAR (VOCERO, or chief's spokesman) interprets the meaning of the chants. Many Kuna attend Catholic and Protestant churches, in addition to the singing gatherings.

Kuna ceremonies include an IKKO INNA (needle ceremony), in which a baby girl's nose is pierced for a gold nose ring; an INNA TUNSIKKALET (short ceremony), a puberty rite that usually lasts one or two days; and an INNA SUIT (long ceremony), a ritual cutting of the hair that usually lasts three or more days. Once a young girl's hair is ritually cut short, she becomes available for marriage. Sometimes an INNA SUIT is held for a very young girl even though she will not be ready for marriage for many years. There are no similar ceremonies for Kuna boys. Special chants exist for birth, death, and the healing of the sick.

The Kuna are known internationally for their MOLAS. Kuna verbal arts include three different types of chants: PAB IKAR, historical, religious and political material sung by Kuna leaders; songs sung by KANTULES (ritualists) during female puberty rites; chants used in curing ceremonies. Kuna women sing lullabies. Kuna dance groups are becoming increasingly popular among Kuna youth. Rattles and reed panpipes are used by the dancers.

Kuna medicinal healers are called INATULETS or NELES (a nele is a seer). They use a combination of herbs and chants to heal their patients. Family, friends, and elderly women play an important role by sitting with patients while healers chant. Beginning in the 1970s, health centers staffed by a nurse or a western-trained health paraprofessional were established on many islands. The region has one hospital. Many Kuna combine western and Kuna approaches to healing when they are ill.

Kuna women and children prepare the body for burial. Women are responsible for wailing and mourning; they review the deceased's life and character and refer to punishments or rewards that will be his or hers in the afterworld. To guide the deceased, a death chanter (MASARTULET) may be employed to sing a long narrative song describing the soul's journey through the underworld to heaven. Kuna cemeteries are located on the mainland. Small houses, many furnished with a table, dishes, and other everyday objects, are often constructed over the graves. These articles are for the deceased to use in the afterworld and to take as gifts to previously departed relatives. Kuna women (usually the elders) are responsible for visiting the dead, bringing them food, and keeping their houses clean.

Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

The Kuna file consists of twenty-seven documents, ranging in time coverage from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. The primary work here is Nordenskiöld (1938, no. 1), further supplemented by the data in his other works (Nordenskiöld 1930, 1931, 1929, 1928, 1930, nos. 8, 9, 11, 28, and 29). Other studies providing varying degrees of general ethnographic coverage are: Wafer (1934, no. 2), Wassén (1949, no. 4), McKim (1947, no. 5), DePuydt (1868, no. 7), Marshall (n.d., no. 12), Krieger (1926, no. 22), Cullen (1867, no. 23), and De Smidt (1948, no. 33), Ventocilla (1995, no. 38), Holloman (1969, no. 42), and Puig (n.d., no. 45). The remaining documents in the file cover a wide range of varying topics. Religion, medicine, and curing practices are discussed in the various Nordenskiöld works mentioned above plus additional data in Chapin (1983, no. 40).

Language, speech and Kuna texts are all topics found in Holmer (1951, no. 21), and Sherzer (1983, no. 39). Kuna music is discussed in Holmer (n.d., no. 13), and Densmore (1926, no. 14). Other subjects discussed in the file are socio-cultural change in Holloman and Swain (1982, no. 43); tales and myths in Wassén (n.d., no. 46); acculturation in Stout (1947, no. 3); the 1925 revolt in Moore (1983, no. 35), and Puig (n.d., no. 45) the Kuna political system in Howe (1986, no. 36, and Holloman; the commercialization of women's clothing (i.e., the MOLA) in Tice (1995, no. 37); and albinism and genetics in Stout (1946, no. 6), and Harris (1926, no. 34).

This culture summary is from the article, "Kuna" by Karin E. Tice, in the Encyclopedia Of World Cultures, Vol. 8. 1995. James W. Dow, ed. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall & Co. Population figures were updated by Ian Skoggard in October 1998. We wish to thank James Howe for his suggestions in the preparation of this file. James Howe is the author of the extensive supplemental bibliography which has been appended following the bibliography section below. The synopsis and indexing notes were written by John Beierle in October 1998.

• ABSOGEDIS -- see shamans

• APSOKET -- an eight-day ceremony to expel disease -- categories 755, 789

• ARKAN KAE -- "shake hands", a form of etiquette greeting -- categories 574, 576

• ARKAR -- a chief's spokesman -- category 624

• ASUOLO -- gold nose ring -- category 301

• chapter houses -- urban associations -- categories 571, 575, 369 and others

• CHICHAS -- puberty ceremonies -- category 881

• child lending -- a form or variation on adoption -- category 597

• CIRCUNSCRIPCION DE SAN BLAS -- a government run administrative unit -- categories 657 /648

• COMARCA -- the Kuna reserve -- category 657

• CONGRESO -- village or regional assembly or gathering -- categories 623/571

• CONGRESO GENERAL/CONGRESO TRADICIONAL -- a convocation of chiefs -- category 646

• CORREGIDOR -- a judge -- categories 692, 693

• ENCARGADO -- a system of standing committees within the CONGRESO -- category 623

• epilepsy, magical treatment of -- category 755

• EX ALUMNOS ASSOCIATION -- category 575

• high chiefs -- category 643

• IBEORGUN NEGA -- the great council house at Ailigandi -- categories 623 and 344

• IKAR (IKALA) -- a gathering which hears a series of topics or cases -- categories 623/627; also may mean way, text, or chant

• INADULEGAN -- herbalists -- category 759

• INATULEDI -- see shamans

• INTENDENCIA -- an administrative territorial unit -- category 631 (sometimes with 657)

• KURGIN -- beliefs about intelligence -- category 828; sometimes with 554

• MASARTULE -- similar to NUCHUS -- category 776

• MOLA -- women's blouse -- category 291; manufacture of, 294

• MU -- a female supernatural being who endows the human fetus with its PURBA, KURGIN, etc.-- category 776

• MUUKANA -- midwives -- categories 759, 844

• NELES -- see shamans

• NIGA(NIKA) -- a spiritual element that resides in the blood -- categories 774 and 828

• NUCHUKANA -- carved wooden figures with supernatural powers -- categories 532, 789, 778

• NUCHUS -- helpful tutelary spirits who aid the shaman to recover stolen or lost PURBAS of the sick -- category 776; as applied to wood figures (NUCHUKANA) with supernatural powers -- categories 776/778

• OMEKITS -- woman-like man -- category 838

• ONMAKKET -- village council or gathering -- category 623

• PISKARS -- individuals who manage the adjudication of cases -- categories 624, 693

• PONIKANA -- spirits which cause illness -- category 776

• public treasury (on the community level) -- category 652

• PURBA (PURPA) -- indwelling soul, in relation to man 774, 775; for animals, 774 & 825; for plants 774 and 824; in relation to inanimate objects, 774/778

• SAKA -- the head of an extended family group; generally one's father-in -law -- category 596

• SAKLA -- the village chief -- category 622

• seals (official Kuna) -- category 186

• shamans -- three types - NELES, INATULEDI, and ABSOGEDIS - all marked for category 756

• SIKKWI -- community secretaries and translators -- categories 212, 624

• SOCIEDADES -- a voluntary association or cooperative -- categories 575, 474

• SUALIPET (SUARIPETI) -- policemen -- categories 624, 625

• VOCEROS -- see ARKAR

Chapin, Mac (1990). The Silent Jungle: Ecotourism among the Kuna Indians of Panama. Cultural Survival Quarterly 14(1): 42-45.

Herrera, Francisco (1972). Aspectos del desarollo economico y social de los indios kunas de San Blas. América Indígena 32(1): 113-138.

Holloman, Regina (1976). Cuna Household Types and the Domestic Cycle. IN: Frontier Adaptation in Lower South America, edited by Mary Helms and Franklin Loveland, 131-149. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues.

Howe, James (1986). The Kuna Gathering: Contemporary Village Politics in Panama. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Sherzer, Joel (1983). Kuna Ways of Speaking. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Stier, Frances Rhoda (1982). Domestic Economy: Land, Labor, and Wealth in a San Blas Community. American Ethnologist 9(3): 519-537.

Stout, David (1947). San Blas Cuna Acculturation: An Introduction. New York: Viking Fund.

Tice, Karin E. (1994). Kuna Crafts, Gender, and the Global Economy. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Adams, Richard (1957). Cultural Surveys of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Pan-American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office, World Health Organization, Washington, Scientific Publication No.33.

Allen, Grace (1926). Reactions of Eight San Blas Indians to Performance Tests. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 9:81-85.

Alvarez, Robert (1972). A Cuna Indian Cooperative: A Voluntary Association as a Vehicle for Change. Master''s thesis, San Diego State University. 70 p.

Andagoya, Pascual de (1865). Narrative of the Proceedings of Pedrarias Davila. Clements Markham, ed. and translator. London: Publications of the Hakluyt Society, 34.

Anonymous (1924). Darien Ethnology. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, Indian Notes 1:194-200.

(1924). The White Indians of Darien. Science LX:xii.

(1936). The Tule Indians of the San Blas Coast. Indians at Work 3:18-21.

(1940) [1739]. Anonymous Spanish Manuscript from 1739 on the Province Darien: A Contribution to the Colonial History and Ethnography of Panama and Colombia, S. Henry Wassén, ed. Göteborg: Etnologiska Studier 10.

(1958). Students of the University Carry Out an Anthropological Investigation in San Blas. Boletín Indigenista 17:352-357.

(1983). Music of the Indians of Panama: the Cuna (Tule) and Chocoe (Embera) Tribes of Panama [sound recording]. Folkways Records.

Asked, George (1940). The Islands of San Blas. Geographical Magazine 11:12-25.

Beach, Rex (1917). The San Blas People. Cosmopolitan January 1917, 143-145.

(1921). Oh Shoot! Confessions of an Agitated Sportsman.

Bell, Eleanore Y. (1910). The Republic of Panama and its People, with Special Reference to the Indians. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Annual report for 1909, pp.607-637.

Bennett, Charles (1959). The Procurement and Utilization of Native Animals by Three Different Culture Groups in the Republic of Panama: A Study of an Aspect of Tropical Biogeography. PhD thesis, University of California at Los Angeles. 219 pp.

(1962). The Bayano Cuna Indians, Panama: An Ecological Study of Livelihood and Diet. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 52:32-50.

(1965). Houses of the Bayano Cuna Indians, Panama. Kulturgeographi 91:137-145.

(1968). Human Influences on the Zoogeography of Panama. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Berendt, Hermann (1874). The Darien Language. American Historical Record 3:54-59.

Bjornberg, Osten (1960). Total Albinos Among the Cuna Indians. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 15:267-269.

Blackwell, Isaac (1699). Description of the Province and Bay of Darien: Giving Full Account of all its Situation, Inhabitants, Way and Manner of Living and Religion, Solemnities, Ceremonies and Products; Being Vastly Rich with Gold and Silver, and Various Other Commodities. Edinburgh: Anderson.

Bourgois, Philip (1988). Conjugated Oppression: Class and Ethnicity among Guaymi and Kuna Banana Workers. American Ethnologist 15:328-348.

Branca, Gabriel B. (1973). An Introduction to a Linguistic Description of the San Blas Cuna Dialect. Panama [?]: no publisher. 214 pp.

Brennan Hatley, Nancy (1976). Cooperativsim and Enculturation among the Cuna Indians of San Blas. IN Enculturation in Latin America, Johannes Wilbert, ed. UCLA Latin American Series 37, Los Angeles, pp.67-94.

Breslin, Patrick, and Mac Chapin (1984). Conservation Kuna-Style. Grassroots Development 8:26-35.

Brown, Judith K. (1970). Sex Division of Labor among the San Blas Cuna. Anthropological Quarterly 43:57-63.

Carles, Rubén Dario (1948). San Blas, Millenary Land of the Cunas, Republic of Panama. Panamá: Estrella de Panamá. 24 pp.

Chapin, Mac (1976). Muu Ikala: Kuna Birth Ceremony. IN: Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9, pp.57-65.

(1983). Curing among the San Blas Kuna of Panama. Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona.

(1985). UDIRBI: An Indigenous Projectin Environmental Conservation. IN Native Peoples and Economic Development; Six Case Studies from Latin America, Theodore McDonald, ed. Cambridge MA: Cultural Survival. pp.39-53.

(1990). The Silent Jungle: Ecotourism among the Kuna Indians of Panama. Cultural Survival Quarterly 14:42-45.

(1991). Losing the Way of Great Father. New Scientist, 10 August 1991, pp. 40-44.

(1992). The Final Journey of Padre Jesús: a Narrative for the Quincentennary. Encounters 10: 31-37. Also Orion 13; Humanidades (Panamá) Dic. 1993: 291-299. and IN Panamá en sus usos y costumbres, Stanley Heckadon Moreno, ed. Panamú: Editorial Universitaria, 1994, pp. 549-571.

(1994). Recapturing the Old Ways: Traditional Knowledge and Western Science among the Kuna Indians of Panama. IN Cultural Expression and Grassroots Development, C.D. Kleymeyer, ed. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publications.

Chardkoff, Richard (1970). The Cuna Revolt Américas 22:14-21.

Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (1981). Mormon Kaiya purba e kualegaledi. Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President of Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. 183 pp.

Coope, Anna (1917) Anna Coope: Sky Pilot of the San Blas Indians. New York: American Tract Society. Second edition 1931.

Costello, Richard (1971). Some Preliminary Findings on the Economic Structure of a San Blas Community. Actas del IV Simposium Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología, y Etnohistoria de Panamá. Panamá: Universidad de Panamá & Instituto Nacional de Cultura, pp.417-436.

(1975). Political Economy and Private Interests in Río Azúcar: An Analysis of Economic Change in a San Blas Community. PhD dissertation, University of California, Davis.

(1982). New Economic Roles for Cuna Males and Females: An Examination of Socioeconomic Change in a San Blas Community. IN Sex Roles and Social Change in Native Lower Central American Societies, Christine Loveland and Franklin Loveland, eds. pp.70-87. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

(1983). CONGRESO Politics in an Urban Setting. IN Panama in Transition: Local Reactions to Development Policies, John Bort and Mary helms, eds. Columbia: University of Missouri Monographs in Anthropology 6, pp.91-102.

Creighton, Ensign J.M., U.S.S. Charleston (1917). Vocabulary of San Blas Indians' Language. manuscript, National Archives of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, 15 pp.

Cullen, Edward (1851). Vocabulary of the Language of the Tule Indians, who inhabit the rivers and the coast of Darien, from the mouth of the Atrato to the Coast of San Blas. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 21:241-242.

(1853). Isthmus of Darién Ship Canal. London: Effingham Wilson.

(1866-68). The Darien Indians. Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London 4:264-268, 6:150-175.

Dampier, William (1927 [1697]). A New Voyage round the World. London: The Argonaut Press.

Davis, Nathaniel (1934 [1704]). The expedition of a Body of Englishmen to the Gold Mines of Spanish America... IN A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, L. E. Elliott Joyce, ed. Oxford: the Hakluyt Society. pp.152-165.

De Gerdes, Marta (1995). Constructing Kuna Identity through Verbal Art in the Urban Context. PhD dissertation, University of Texas, Austin. 470 pp.

de Puydt, Lucien (1868). Account of Scientific Explorations in the Isthmus of Darien in the Years 1861 and 1865. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 38:69-110.

(1869). Vocabulary and Phrases of the Cuna Language. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society p.25.

Dillon, Brian (1984). Island Building and Villages of the Dead: Living Archaeology in the COMARCA de San Blas, Panama. Journal of New World Archaeology 6:49-65.

Duke, James (1968). Darién Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Columbus OH: Battelle Memorial Institute. 131 pp.

(1969). Darién Dictionary. Columbus OH: Battelle Memorial Institute. 82 pp.

(1975). Ethnobotanical Observations on the Cuna Indians. Economic Botany 29:278-293.

Dunham, Jacob (1850). Journal of Voyages. New York: Hucstis & Cozans.

Ebenstein, Hanns (1993). Volleyball with the Cuna Indians and Other Gay Travel Adventures. New York: Penguin Books.

Etheredge, G.D., and J.K. Frenkel (1995). Human Toxoplasma Infection in Kuna and Embera Children in the Bayano and San Blas, Eastern Panama. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 53.

Fairchild, H.L. (1924). White Indians of Darien. Science 60:235-237.

Feeney, Corninne (1941). Arch-Isolationists, the San Blas Indians. National Geographic 79:193-220.

Gamble, J.F., S.C. Snedaker, et al. (1969). Bioenvironmental and Radiological-Safety Feasibility Studies, Atlantic-Pacific Interoceanic Canal: Agricultural Ecology, Final Report. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, B.M.I. 171-20.

Garvin, Gloria (1983). Cuna Psychotherapeutics: A Psychological, Social, and Theoretical Analysis. PhD dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles.

Gassó, Leonardo (1909). The Establishment of the Mission among the Caribs: Letter of Father Leonardo Gassó to Father Alós; Panama, November 7th, 1908, Woodstock Letters XXXVIII:228-240. Woodstock College.

(1910). Panama -- the Mission among the Caribs, From a Letter of Father Leonardo Gassó, S.J., to Father Juan Bautista Ferreres, Panama, March 1909. Woodstock Letters XXXIX:180-184. Woodstock College.

Gregory, R.R. (1938). The Gospel among the San Blas and Other Indians of Central America. no publisher. 11 pp.

Gupta, M.P., A. Correa, P.N. Solís, A. Jones, C. Galdames, F. Guionneau-Sinclair (1993). Medicinal Plant Inventory of Kuna Indians: Part I. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 40:77-110.

Harlan, Harry (1932). Early References to the White Indians of Panama. Journal of Heredity 8:319-322.

Harrington, John Peabody (1925). Studies on the Tule Indians of Panama. Explorations and Field-Work... Smithsonian Institution Miscellaneous Papers 77:112-130.

Harris, Reginald (1925a). The White Indians of the San Blas and Darien. Science 61:460-461.

(1925b). The Scientific Importance of the White Indians. World's Work June 1925:211-217.

(1926b). Los Indios Tule de San Blas. (pamphlet) Panamá: Imprenta Nacional.

Hasbrouck, Gary (1985). Subsistence Fishing among the San Blas Kunas, Panama. Master's thesis, University of California, Berkeley. 234 pp.

Helms, Mary (1971). The Purchase Society: Adaptations to Economic Frontiers. Anthropological Quarterly 42:325-342.

(1976). Domestic Organization in Eastern Central America: The San Blas Cuna, Miskito, and Black Carib Compared. Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 6:133-163.

(1976). Symbols and Society: Comments on Ritual and Symbolism of Indigenous Central America. IN Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. Eugene: University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9. pp. 125-141.

(1977). Iguanas and Crocodilians in Tropical American Mythology and Iconography, with Special Reference to Panama. Journal of Latin American Lore 3:51-132.

(1978). Coastal Adaptations as Contact Phenomena among the Miskito and Cuna Indians of Lower Central America. IN Prehistoric Coastal Aadaptations, the Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America, Barbara Stark and Barbara Voorhies, eds. New York: Academic Press, pp.121-149.

(1979). Ancient Panama: Chiefs in Search of Power. Austin: University of Texas Press.

(1981). Cuna MOLAS and Coclé Art Forms: Reflections on Panamanian Design Styles and Symbols. Working Papers in Traditional Arts 7. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues.

Herlihy, Peter (1986). Indians and Rain Forest Collide - The Cultural Parks of Darien. Cultural Survival Quarterly 10:57-61.

(1989). Panama's Quiet Revolution: COMARCA Homelands and Indian Rights." Cultural Survival Quarterly 13:17-24.

Herrera, Francisco (1989). Indian-State Relations in Panama, 1903-1983. Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Herrera P., Tomas (1978) Cuna Cosmology, Legends from Panama. Anita McAndrews, translator. Washington DC: Three Continents Press.

Hirschfeld, Lawrence (1976). A Structural Analysis of the Cuna Arts. IN Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. Eugene: University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9. pp.43-56.

(1977). Art in Cunaland: Ideology and Cultural Adaptation. Man n.s. 12:104-123.

(1977). Cuna Aesthetics: A Quantitative Analysis. Ethnology 16:147-166.

Hollenberg, Norman, et al. (1997). Aging, Acculturation, Salt Intake, and Hypertension in the Kuna of Panama. Hypertension 29.

Holloman, Regina (1969). Acculturation and the Cuna. Field Museum Bulletin 40:4-9.

(1969). Developmental Change in San Blas. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University.

(1975). Ethnic Boundary Maintenance, Readaptation, and Societal Evolution in the San Blas Islands of Panama. IN Ethnicity and Resource Competition in Plural Societies, Leo Despres, ed. Paris:Mouton, pp.27-40.

(1976). Cuna Household Types and the Domestic Cycle. IN Frontier Adaptations in Lower Central America, Mary helms and Franklin Loveland, eds. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, pp.131-149.

Holmer, Nils (1946). Outline of Cuna Grammar. International Journal of American Linguistics 12:185-197.

(1947). Critical and Comparative Grammar of the Cuna Language. Etnologiska Studier 14. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

(1951). Cuna Chrestomathy. Etnologiska Studier 18. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

(1952). Ethno-Linguistic Cuna Dictionary. Etnologiska Studier 19. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum. 194 pp.

(1952). Inatoipippiler, or the Adventures of Three Cuna Boys, according to Maninibigdinapi (Belisario Guerrero). Etnologiska Studier 20. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

(1953). Some Semantic Problems in Cuna and Kaggaba.International Anthropological and Linguistic Review I:195-200.

(1958). Nia-Ikala. Canto mágico para curar la locura. Etnologiska Studier 23. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

Holmer, Nils & S. Henry Wassén (1953). The Complete Mu-Igala in Picture Writing. Etnologiska Studier 21. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

Horton, Mark (n.d. [1980 or 1981]). Archaeological Project. Operation Drake: Panama Report. Part II, Section 1, pp.26-53.

Host, Per (1956). Children of the Jungle. London: Pan Books.

Howe, James (1974). Village Political Organization among the San Blas Cuna. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. 442 pp.

(n.d. [1975]). Notes on the Environment and Subsistence Practices of the San Blas Cuna. With comments and an addendum by Mac Chapin. Working Papers on Peoples and Cultures of Central America 1. 67 pp.

(1976a). Communal Land Tenure and the Origin of Descent Groups among the San Blas Cuna. IN Frontier Adaptations in Lower Central America, Mary Helms and Franklin Loveland, eds. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. pp.151-163.

(1976b). Smoking out the Spirits: a Cuna Exorcism. IN Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. Eugene: University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9. pp.67-76.

(1977). Carrying the Village: Cuna Political Metaphors. In The Social use of Metaphor, David Sapir and Christopher Crocker, eds. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp.132-163.

(1978). How the Cuna Keep Their Chiefs in Line. Man 13:537-532.

(1979). The Effects of Writing on the Cuna Political System. Ethnology 18(1):1-16. Reprinted in Anthropological Approaches to Political Behavior, Frank McGlynn & Arthur Tuden, eds., University of Pittsburgh Press.

(1982). Kindling Self-Determination among the Kuna. Cultural Survival Quarterly 6:15-17.

(1984). Indigenous response to development and change: the Kuna of Panama. IN Past and Present in the Americas, John Lynch, ed. pp.137-138.

(1985). Marriage and Domestic Organization among the San Blas Kuna. IN The Botany and Natural History of Panama, William Darcy and Mireya Correa, eds. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden. pp.317-331.

(1986). Native Rebellion and U.S. Intervention in Central America: The Implications of the Kuna Case for the Miskito. Cultural Survival Quarterly 10(1):59-65.

(1990). Mission Rivalry and Conflict in San Blas, Panama. IN Class, Politics, and Popular Religion in Mexico and Central America, Lynn Stephen and James Dow, eds. Society for Latin American Anthropology Publication Series 10. pp.143-166.

(1991). An Ideological Triangle: The Struggle over San Blas Kuna Culture, 1915-1925. IN Nation-States and Indians in Latin America, Greg Urban and Joel Sherzer, eds. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp.19-52.

(1992). Protestant, Catholics, and 'Gentiles': The Articulation of Missionary and Indigenous Culture on the San Blas Coast of Panama. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford XXIII:139-155.

(1994). (with the assistance of Jesús Alemancia and Cebaldo de León, based on oral texts by Carlos López, Samuel Morris, and Jimmy Solís) Sounds Heard in the Distance: Poetry and Metaphor in the Kuna Struggle for Autonomy. Latin American Indian Literatures Journal 10:1-21.

(1996). Star Girls and Star Man: A Comparative Analysis of Paired Kuna Myths. The Journal of Latin American Lore 17:225-266.

Howe, James, and Lawrence Hirschfeld (1981). The Star Girls' Descent: A Myth about Men, Women, Matrilocality, and Singing. Journal of American Folklore 94:292-322.

Howe, James, and Joel Sherzer (1975). Take and Tell: A Practical Classification from the San Blas Cuna. American Ethnologist 2:435-460.

(1986). Friend Hairyfish and Friend Rattlesnake, or Dealing with Anthropologists through Humor. Man 21:680-696.

Hrdlicka, Ales (1926). The Indians of Panama and their Physical Relation to the Mayas. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 9: 1-15.

Hudgins Morgan (1958). I Married a San Blas Indian: The Story of Marvel (Elya) Iglesias. New York: Vantage Press.

Humphries, Theodore (1944). The Indians of Panama: Their History and Culture. Panama: Pan American Publishing Company. 136 pp.

Iglesias, Alcibiades (1951). Tule Kaya Summakket Wilup Kan. Philadelphia: College Offset Press.

Iglesias, David (1992). A Kuna Homecoming. Native Peoples 5:20-25.

(1993). Drawing the Line. Native Peoples 6:10-18.

Iglesias, Marvel, and Marjorie Vendervelde (1977). Beauty is a Ring in My Nose? no publisher.

Jeliffe, D.B., et al. (1961). The Children of the San Blas Indians of Panama. Tropical Pediatrics 59:271-285.

Jones, Oakah (1986). Cuna Rebellion and Panamanian Power, 1925. IN Proceedings of the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies, 1982. San Diego: San Diego State University Press.

Joyce, L. E. Elliott (1934). Introduction, appendices, and notes to Lionel Wafer, A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, L. E. Elliott Joyce, ed. Oxford: the Hakluyt Society LXXIII, series II.

Kean, B.H. (1944). The Blood Pressure of the Cuna Indians. American Journal of Tropical Medicine 24:341-343.

Keeler, Clyde (1953). The Caribe Cuna Moon-Child and Its Heredity. Journal of Heredity 44:162-171.

(1954). Cuna Indian Beliefs concerning the Afterlife. Journal of the Tennesee Academy of Science 29:153-162.

(1954). The Burial of a Cuna Indian Girl. Journal of the Tennesee Academy of Science 29:297-304.

(1955). Cuna Uchus and Catholic Saints. Journal of the Tennesee Academy of Science 30:203-211.

(1956). More about Uchus in San Blas. Journal of the Tennesee Academy of Science 31:171-176.

(1956). The Meaning of the Inna Feast. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 14:81-88.

(1956). Land of the Moon Children. Athens GA: University of Georgia Press.

(1957). Phallic Symbols of God's Creative Power among the Cunas. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:16-21.

(1957). The Cuna Indian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:22-34.

(1957). Reproductive Structures of the Cuna Indian Earthmother. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:35-43.

(1957). The Flood, the Ark, and Cuna Beliefs. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:43-52.

(1957). The Earthmother's Placental Monster and the Cuna Totem. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:97-105.

(1957). The Making of Man by the Cuna Indian Earthmother. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:106-116.

(1957). Womb-men, Wombless-men, and the Cuna Indians. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 15:117-126.

(1960). Secrets of the Cuna Earthmother. New York: Exposition Press.

(1961). Apples of immortality from the Cuna Tree of Life. New York: Exposition Press.

(1964). Pigment Gene Pleiotropy in the Cuna Indian Moon-Child. Mind over Matter 9:30-41.

(1964). The Incidence of Cuna Moon-Child Albinos. Journal of Heredity 55:115-120.

(1966). Cuna Moon-Child Albinism.Dermatology Digest Feb 1966:41-49.

(1968). Note on Sweating and Odor of Cuna Albinos. Dermatologia Internationalis 7:78-80.

(1969). Cuna Indian Art. New York: Exposition Press.

(1987). Timeless Threads in the Fabric of Cuna Indian Culture. Milledgeville, Georgia: no publisher. 65 pp.

Keeler, Clyde, Irville MacKinnon, et al. (1963). The Albino Moon-Child Research Project. MSH Bulletin of Current Research 2:3-27. Milledgeville (GA) State Hospital.

Keeler, Clyde, and Luis Prieto (1950). The Caribe-Cuna Moon-Child. A Demonstration of Pigment-Gene Pleiotropy in Man. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 8:3-6.

Kelker, Nancy (1976). The Effects of Acculturation on the Art of Primitive Societies, the San Blas Cuna: a Case Study. Master's thesis, University of Oklahoma. 121 p.

Kelly, Joanne (1966). Cuna. South Brunswick NJ: Barnes. 440 pp.

Kourany, M. et al. (1971). Prevalence of Pathogenic Bacteria in Children of 31 Panamanian Communities. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 20: 608-615.

Kramer, Fritz (1970). Literature among the Cuna Indians. Etnologiska Studier 30. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum. 166 pp.

Lane, Sherry Dixon (1983). The Influence of Missionary Activity among the San Blas Kuna, Panama. Thesis, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University. 156 pp.

Langebaek, Carl (1991). Cuna Long Distance Journeys: The Result of Colonial Interaction. Ethnology 30:371-380.

La Varre, William (1940). Southward Ho! A Treasure in South America. New York: Doubleday. 301 pp.

Lawrence, Trude Lowenbach (1977). Physical and Social Deviance: A Study of Health-Related Attitudes, Perceptions, and Practices within a San Blas Cuna Village, Panama. PhD dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 166 pp.

Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1963). The Effectiveness of Symbols. In Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books, pp.186-205.

Linné, Sigvald (1929). Darien in the Past. The Archaeology of Eastern Panama and North-Western Colombia. Göteborg: Femte Följden A,1,3. 318 pp.

Lippincott, Aubrey, and Hartley Dane (1964). A Brief Review of Selected Aspects of the San Blas Cuna Indians. Washington: American University, Counterinsurgency Information Analysis Center.

Lips, Julius (1937). The Savage Hits Back. New Haven: Yale University Press.

López, Griselda Maria, and Luz Graciela Joly.(1981). Singing a Lullaby in Kuna: A Female Verbal Art. Journal of American Folklore 94:351-358.

Lull, Edward (1873). Vocabulary of the Languages of the Indians of San Blas and Caledonia Bay, Isthmus of Darién. Transactions of the American Philosophical Association 4:103-109.

Marsh, Richard (1924). Blond Indians of the Darien Jungle. World's Work 483-490.

(1934). White Indians of Darien. New York: Putnam.

McCosker, Sandra, see Sandra Smith

McFadden, Archibald (1961). Medical Lore of the San Blas Kuna. Proceedings of the Medical Association of the Isthmian Canal Zone, May.

Montesclaros, Mark (1988). State-Indian Relations in Panama and Nicaragua, a Comparative Assessment; and the Role of ideas in the Mexican Independence Movement. MA paper, University of Texas at Austin. 149 pp.

Moore, Alexander (1980). Planners, Tourists, and Indians: National Policy, Regional Development Projects and the San Blas Cuna. Practicing Anthropology 2:5-6,19-20.

(1981). Basilicas and Kingposts: A Proxemic and Symbolic Event Analysis of Competing Public Architecture among the San Blas Cuna. American Ethnologist 8:259-277.

(1983). Lore and Life: Cuna Indian Pageants, Exorcism, and Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century. Ethnohistory 30:93-106.

(1984). From Council to Legislature: Democracy, Parliamentarianism, and the San Blas Cuna. American Anthropologist 86:28-42.

(1986). The Form and Context of the Kuna General Congress. IN The Botany and Natural History of Panama, William Darcy and Mireya Correa, eds. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden. pp.333-343.

(1987). Cuna Religion. The Encyclopedia of Relgion, Mircea Eliade et al, eds. New York: Macmillan. pp.179-181.

Moser, Brian, and Donald Tayler (1987). Music of the Tukano and Cuna Peoples of Colombia. (audio recording) Rogue Records.

Nordenskiöld, Erland (1927). Panama Chief Writes History. El Palacio 23:617-618.

(1928). Cuna Indian Conceptions of Illnesses. IN Festschrift P.W. Schmidt, St. Gabriel-Mödling bei Wien, pp.527-529.

(1928). The Cuna Indians of Panama. Discovery 9:11-13.

(1930). Cuna Indian Religion. Proceedings of the 23d International Congress of Americanists, pp.668-677.

Ohlhorst, Sharon (1973). The Cuna Way - Male and Female. Discovery 8:71-76.

Olien, Michael (1988). After the Indian Slave Trade: Cross-Cultural Trade in Western Caribbean Rimland, 1816-1820. Journal of Anthropological Research 44:41-66.

Oliver, Frederick (1916). The San Blas Indians of Darien. manuscript. National Archives of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, 26 pp.

Parker, Ann, and Avon Neal (1977). Molas: Folk Art of the Kuna Indians. Barre MA: Barre Publishing.

Pittier, Henri (1912). Little Known Parts of Panamá. National Geographic 23:627-652.

Porter, James Warren (1973). The effects of Panama's Cuna Indians on Coral Reefs. Discovery 8:65-70.

Prebble, John (1968). The Darien Disaster. London: Secker & Warburg. 366 pp.

Price, James (1941). Jungle Jim. New York: Doubleday, 310 pp.

Prince, J. Dyneley (1912). Prolegomena to the Study of the San Blas Language of Panamá. American Anthropologist 14:109-126.

(1913). A Text in the Indian Language of Panama-Darien. American Anthropologist 15:298-326.

(1913). Grammar and Glossary of the Tule Language of Panamá. American Anthropologist 15:480-528.

Presilla, Maricel (1996). Cuna Life Stories and Art. New York: Henry Holt.

Puls, Herta (1978). The Art of Cutwork and Appliqué: Historic, Modern, and Kuna Indian. Newton, Massachusetts: C.T. Branford. 240 pp.

(1988). Textiles of the Kuna Indians of Panama. Princes Risborough, UK: Shire Publications. 72 pp.

Quinan, Clarence (1924). White Indians of Darien. Science LX:476-477.

Richmond Brown, Lady Lilian Mabel (1925). Unknown Tribes, Uncharted Seas. New York: Appleton. 268 pp.

Roberts, Orlando (1965). Narrative of Voyages and Excursions on the East Coast and in the Interior of Central America. Gainesville: U. of Florida Press, facsimile edition of the 1827 original. 311 pp.

Romoli, Kathleen (1953). Balboa of Darién, Discoverer of the Pacific. New York.

Salvador, Mari Lyn (1976). The Clothing Arts of the Cuna of San Blas, Panama. IN Ethnic and Tourist Arts, Nelson Graburn, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 165-182.

(1978). Yer Dailege! Kuna Women's Art. Albuquerque: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. 102 pp.

(1994). 'Kuna Way': Museums, Exhibitions, and the Politics of Representation of Kuna art. Museum Anthropology 18:48-52.

Sauer, Carl (1966). The Early Spanish Main. Berkeley: University of California Press. 306 pp.

Science Service (1924a). 'White Indians.' Science July 1924, p.viii.

(1924b). White Indians. Science October 1924, pp.x-xii.

(1924c). Investigation of the White Indians. Science October 1924, pp.xiii-xiv.

Seeman, Berthold (1853). The Aborigines of the Isthmus of Panama. Transactions of the American Ethnological Society 3.

Selfridge, Oliver (1874). Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Practicability of a Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Severi, Carlo (1987). The Invisible Path: Ritual representation of Suffering in Cuna Traditional Thought. Res 14:66-85.

(1992). Talking about Souls: The Pragmatic Construction of Meaning in Cuna Ritual Language. IN Cognitive Aspects of Ritual Symbolism, P. Boyer, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Severin, Kurt (1936). Evil Spirits in the Jungles of Panama. Travel 67:22-23.

(1953). A San Blas Indian Girl Comes of Age. Natural History 72:8-15.

(1964). San Blas Debutante. M.D. 8:109-113.

Shatto, Gloria (1972). The San Blas Cuna Indian Sociedad as a Vehicle of Economic Development. Journal of Developing Areas 6:383-398.

Sherzer, Dina (1985). Plants and Animals in the Language of Kuna Magic. IN The Botany and Natural History of Panama, William Darcy and Mireya Correa, eds. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden. pp. 347-349.

Sherzer, Dina, and Joel Sherzer (1972). Literature in San Blas: Discovering the Cuna Ikala. Semiotica 6:182-199.

(1975). Système de la mode en Darien: towards a Semiotic Analysis of Cuna Molas. Point of Contact/Punto de Contaco 1:4-13.

(1976). Mormaknamaloe: The Cuna Mola. In Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9, pp.21-42.

Sherzer, Joel (1970). Talking Backwards in Cuna: The Sociological reality of Phonological Descriptions. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 26:343-353.

(1971). Five Cuna Linguistic Games. Penn-Texas Working Papers in Sociolinguistics 6.

(1973). Nonverbal and Verbal Diexis: the Pointed Lip Gesture among the San Blas Cuna. Language in Society 2:117-131.

(1974). Namakke, Sunmakke, Kormakke: Three Kinds of Cuna Speech Event. IN Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking, Richard Bauman and Joel Sherzer, eds. pp.253-282. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(1978). Cuna Numeral Classifiers. IN Linguistic and Literary Studies in Hoinor of Archibold A. Hill, M.A. Jazayery et al, eds. The Hague: Mouton. vol.2, pp.331-337.

(1979). Strategies in Text and Context: Cuna kaa kwento. Journal of American Folklore 92:145-163.

(1981). The Interplay of Structure and Function in Kuna Narrative, or: How to Grab a Snake in Darien. Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics, pp. 306-322.

(1982). Poetic Structuring of Kuna Discourse: the Line. Language in Society 11:371-390.

(1982). The Interplay of Structure and Function in Kuna Narrative, or How to Grab a Snake in San Blas. University of Texas at Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies Offprint Series No. 233, pp. 306-322.

(1983). Kuna Ways of Speaking. Austin: University of Texas Press.

(1983). Cuna Numeral Classifiers. Semiotica 47; reprinted in Institute of Latin American Studies Offprint Series 256, University of Texas, Austin. pp. 331-337.

(1984). Cuna ikala: Literature in San Blas. In Verbal Art Performance, Richard Bauman, ed. Prospect Heights. pp.133-150.

(1985). What's in a Name in San Blas: Kuna Plant, Animal, and Human Names." IN The Botany and Natural History of Panama, William Darcy and Mireya Correa, eds. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden. pp.351-355.

(1986). The Report of a Kuna Curing Specialist: The Poetics and Rhetoric of an Oral Performance. IN Native South American Discourse, Joel Sherzer and Greg Urban, eds. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp.169-212.

(1987). Poetic Structuring of Kuna Discourse: The Line. IN Native American Discourse: Poetics and Rhetoric, Joel Sherzer and Anthony Woodbury, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.103-139. (reprint of Sherzer 1982)

(1987). A Diversity of Voices: Men's and Women's Speech in Ethnographic Perspective. IN Language, Gender, and Sex in Comparative Perspective, Susan Philips, Susan Steele, and Christina Tanz, eds., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 95-120.

(1989). The Kuna Verb: A Study in the Interplay of Grammar, Discourse, and Style. IN General and Amerindian Ethnolinguistics: In Remembrance of Stanley Newman, Mary Ritchie Key and Henry Hoenigswald, eds. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 261-272.

(1990). On Play, Joking, Humor, and Tricking among the Kuna: the Agouti Story. Native Latin American Cultures Through Their Discourse, pp. 84-114.

(1990). Verbal Art in San Blas: Kuna Culture through its Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 280 pp.

(1992). Modes of Representation and Translation of Native American Discourse: Examples from the San Blas Kuna. IN On the Translation of Native American Literatures, Brian Swann, ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 426-440.

(1993). Transcription, Representation, and Translation: Repetition and Performance in Kuna Discourse. IN Repetition in Discourse: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Barbara Johnstone, ed. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Co, pp.37-52.

(1994). The Kuna and Columbus: Encounters and Confrontations of Discourse. American Anthropologist 96:1-23.

(1995). Your Friend is Peeing Standing Up: Kuna Positional Suffixes in Grammatical, Discourse, Poetic, and Sociocultural Context. IN Salsa II (Proceedings of the Second Annual Symposium About Language and Society - Austin) pp.99-107. Austin: University of Texas Department of Linguistics.

Sherzer, Joel, and Dina Sherzer (1976). Mormaknamaloe: The Cuna MOLA. IN Ritual and Symbol in Native Central America, Philip Young and James Howe, eds. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers 9. Eugene OR, pp.21-42.

Sherzer, Joel, and Sammie Ann Wicks (1982). The Intersection of Music and Language in Kuna Discourse. Latin American Music Review 3:147-164.

Shrubsall, F.C., A.C. Haddon, and L.H.D. Buxton (1924). The White Indians of Panama. Man 119-121, 162-164.

Smith, Carol (1956). The San Blas (Panama). Sans Juvenile Delinquency. Journal of Educational Sociology 29: 259-263.

Smith [McCosker], Sandra (1974). The Lullabies of the San Blas Cuna Indians of Panama. Etnologiska Studier 33. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum.

(1976). San Blas Cuna Indian Lullabies: a Means of Informal learning. IN Enculturation in Latin America, Johannes Wilbert, ed. Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, pp. 29-66.

(1984). Panpipes for Power, Panpipes for Play: The Social Management of Cultural Expression in Kuna Society. Phd dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

(1997). Music of the Kuna in Panama. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (1987). Compilation of Scientific Publications, Comarca de San Blas, Republic of Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Panamá: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. two volumes.

Solomon, James. Religious Patterns of the Cuna Indians, with Cultural Aspects. New York: Vantage Press. 130 pp.

Stevens, Elmer (1950). Plantains to Pancakes: Diary of a Visit to the Cuna Indian Territory on the Upper Reaches of the Bayano River in the Republic of Panama Made by Gerald A. Doyle and Elmer B. Stevens. Balboa Heights, Canal Zone, 17 pp.

Stier, Frances (n.d. [1976]). Bananas: An Account of Environment and Subsistence on Playón Chico, San Blas. Working Papers on Peoples and Cultures of Central America 2. 82 pp.

(1979). The Effect of Demographic Change on Agriculture in San Blas. Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona.

(1982). Domestic Economy: Land, Labor, and Wealth in a San Blas Community. American Ethnologist 9: 519-537.

(1983). Modeling Migration: Analyzing Migration Histories from a San Blas Cuna Community. Human Organization 42: 9-22.

Steiner, Christopher Burghard (1994). Technologies of Resistance: Structural Alteration of Trade Cloth in Four Societies. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 119:75-94.

Stirling, Mathew (1931). Description of a Trip to the Tule Villages of the San Blas Coast. manuscript, National Archives of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, 34 pp.

Stout, David (1946). Further notes on albinism among the San Blas Cuna, Panama. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 4: 483-490.

(1946). Land tenure and other property concepts among the San Blas Cuna. Primitive Man XIX: 63-80.

(1947). Ethno-linguistic observations on San Blas Cuna. International Journal of American Linguists 13: 9-12.

(1948). Albinism among the San Blas Cuna of Panama. Bulletin 1:7.

(1952). Persistant Elements in San Blas Cuna Social Organization. Indian Tribes of Aboriginal America: Selected Papers of the XXIXth International Congress of Americanists 3: 262-265.

Swain, Margaret (1977). Cuna Women and Ethnic Tourism: A Way to Persist and an Avenue of Change. In Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism, Valene Smith, ed. pp.71-81.

(1978). Ailigandi Women: Continuity and Change in Cuna Female Identity. Phd dissertation, University of Washington.

(1982). Being Cuna and Female: Ethnicity Mediating Change in Sex Roles. IN Sex Role and Social Change in Native Lower Central American Societies, Christine Loveland and Franklin Loveland, eds. pp.102-123. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Taplin, David, and Maureen Vicaria-Clement (1993). Fighting Cholera with Solar Energy. North-South 2:46-51.

Tice, Karen (1995). Kuna Crafts, Gender, and the Global Economy. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Tinnin, J.V. (1940). Roughing It in the San Blas Islands. Panamá: Panama American Publishing Co. 135 pp.

Torres de Araúz, Reina (1967). Human Ecology Studies, Panama, Phase I: Final Report. Columbus OH: Battelle Memorial Institute. 88 pp.

(1968). Demographic Characteristics of Human Groups Inhabiting the Eastern Region of the Republic of Panama. Bioenvironmental and Radiological-Safety Feasibility Studies--Atlantic-Pacaific Interoceanic Canal. Columbus OH: Batelle Memorial Institute. B.M.I. 171-13.

(1970). Human Ecology of Route 17 (Sasardi-Morti) Region, Darien, Panama. Bioenvironmental and Radiological-Safety Feasibility Studies -- Atlantic-Pacaific Interoceanic Canal. Columbus OH: Batelle Memorial Institute. B.M.I. 171-39.

Totten, Norman (n.d. [1990s]). Kuna Yala: People between Continents. manuscript. 204 pp. Boston: Bentley College.

Ventocilla, Jorge, Heraclio Herrera, and Valerio Nuñez, eds. (1995 Plants and Animals in the Life of the Kuna, Elizabeth King, translator. Austin: University of Texas Press. 150 pp.

Ventocilla, Jorge, et al. (1996). The Kuna Indians and Conservation. IN Traditional Peoples and Biodiversity Conservation in Large Tropical Landscapes, Kent Radford and Jane Mansour, eds. pp. 33-56.

Verner, Samuel (1920). The San Blas Indians of Panama. Geographical Review X:23-30.

Verrill, A. Hyatt (1921). Panama, Past and Present. New York: Dodd, Mead. 215 pp.

(1924). Hunting the White Indians. McClure's Magazine July 1924, pp.46-59.

Wali, Alaka (1988). The Bayano Corporation and Social Change: The Regional Consequences of Macrodevelopment. IN Panama in Transition: Local Reaction to Development Policies, John Bort & Mary Helms, eds. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, pp.103-127.

(1989). Kilowatts and Crisis: Hydroelectric Power and Social Dislocation in Eastern Panama. Boulder: Westview Press.

(1989). In Eastern Panama, Land is the Key to Survival. Cultural Survival Quarterly 13.

(1990). When Planning Fails: Unanticipated Consequences of Resettlement in Eastern Panama. Practicing Anthropology 12.

(1993). The Transformation of a Frontier: State and Regional Relationships in Panama, 1972-1990. Human Organization.

Wassén, S. Henry (1938). Original documents from the Cuna Indians of San Blas, Panama, as Recorded by the Indians Guillermo Haya and Rubén Pérez Kantule. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum. Etnologiska Studier 6. 178 pp.

(1952). New Cuna Myths, according to Guillermo Hayans. Göteborg: Etnografiska Museum. Etnologiska Studier 20: 86-106.

(1959). A Comparative Reconstruction of the Post-Columbian Change in Certain Religious Concepts among the Cuna Indians of Panama. 33d International Congress of Americanists, San José 1958, II: 502-509.

(1964). Some words on the Cuna indians and especially their "Mola" garments. Rev. do Mus. Paulista 15: 329-339.

(1966). On Some Details in the Cultural Relationships between the Indians of Northwestern South America and Southern Central America. 36th International Congress of Americanists, Sevilla 1964, 3:165-176.

Williams, Jerry (1967). The Human Ecology of Mulatupu, San Blas. Master's thesis, University of Florida. 118 pp.

Wissler, Clark (1924). 'White Indians' of Darien. Science 7/18/24.

York Bell, Eleanor (1909). The Republic of Panama and its People, with Special Reference to the Indians. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

Zydler, Tom (1990). The Kuna Canoe. Woodenboat 97:62-69.