Written by Mia:
Before we set off to explore the Guna Yala we had a visit from friends on Mahina, John and Amanda were aboard Itchy Foot for a fleeting visit but they were there long enough to recommend stopping at Mormake Tupu. This beautiful little village is one of their favorite stops and they gave us the name of the family they always visit and we looked forward to it. Luckily our route with Gunnar, Mona and Nikolaj onboard worked out well and we spent some time there.
The Restrapo family took us in to see their home and it was interesting to walk through and see how their family lives. They cook over open fires and seem to have plenty of pots, pans and utensils hanging on the walls. It looks like everyone helps out and we often saw kids Teo’s age carrying around their baby siblings. The older women sew and do beading and teach the younger ones. They had a few cats in the garden and actually had a pig in a self cleaning pen, which used bamboo poles with big gaps over the water, no need to shovel! They also had a pond that resembled a small swimming pool full of fish that we are guessing would be dinner when they are big enough.
Each island village will have three chiefs or “Sailas”who tell the ancient stories, communicate with the gods act as medicine men and make decisions in the community. Alongside the Sailas there are the “Argars” who interpret the message from the Saila, applying the message to modern day issues. There are also three head chiefs called “Caciques” for the entire Guna Nation, and one is voted High Chief. The Guna are largely autonomous and take interest and an active role in Panamanian government to protect their culture. We were happy to hear that the Guna are happy with the current government.
The Restrapo family introduced us to the Saila of Mormake Tupu and we were honored. We had read about the culture and were happy to have a customary gift for the Saila which in this case was a bag of rice and some reading glasses. I just want to pause a moment and thank John and Amanda for putting us in contact with this family, it was a very rewarding visit! Also, I would like to compliment Eric Bauhaus for his hard work and dedication that clearly went into writing The Panama Cruising Guide because it is not only full of important pilotage information which we really depended on, but it also contains a lot of interesting description and explanation about the people of Panama. We saw his very fancy catamaran in Linton Bay marina so he clearly doesn’t need it, but I would have happily bought him a drink to show our thanks.
We got a tour of Mormake Tupu and they pointed out the Chicha hut which is a place where they have a social event a few times a year. This hut should be big enough to hold the whole community and they spend a month preparing for such an event including making “chicha” which is an alcoholic drink made from sugar cane. They use two trees that are about a meter apart, one with a hole cut through the center and the second cut into a “Y” shape and they insert two bamboo poles horizontally through these holes. One person bounces on top of the upper pole making and closing a gap into which another person feeds sugar cane into the gap and the fluid is collected in a bowl underneath and then stored to ferment . On an average day the women are beautifully dressed in traditional dress which includes an intricately sewn “mola” and sarong-like skirts as well as bracelets and anklets of small glass beads but the men wear casual western dress, mostly shirts and t-shirts, probably because they wear better for their daily rowing and collecting activities. But everyone dresses up for the Chicha!
On the tour they proudly showed us their school and learned that each island of considerable size will have a primary school. The kids start school at five and continue until the sixth grade. Most schools we saw in all of Panama are painted the same shade of blue and white so they are easy to spot. If students want to continue with school after the 6th grade they have to travel or move to a larger community like Ustupu or Rio Diablo. Learning happens their own language as well as Spanish. They have a long break in the dry season which is from January through March, similar to summer break. The school yards all have basketball courts and everywhere we visited used them regularly. Basketball is very popular throughout the islands even though the people are quite short statured.
Just as the “Guna Yala” is also referred to the “San Blas” islands, a name given to the area by the conquistadors, each island also has a Spanish name. Mormake Tupu is also known as Isla Maquina because the master mola maker lives here. We met him and he is very proud of his work. We were invited to view over 100 “molas” and it felt like buying one was very much the thing to do. He also had a book with a list of the boats he sold to and how many they bought. It felt much more pushy here than anywhere else we visited and I much preferred being approached by women or a family in an dugout ulu.
We had read that the islands get very dark at night as they do not have electricity, and we were even prepared to charge mobile phones for people because we read that people often row out to the anchorage requesting help. But there was more light than we expected to see and our walk through Mormake Tupu shed a little light on the subject (forgive me). Three years ago the Panamanian government helped install solar panels and batteries on all 39 inhabited islands with a sizable population.
We were invited to attend a “Congreso”which is a daily meeting beginning at dusk that is a cross between church and a town hall. In the Congreso hut the Sailas and Argars sit or hang in hammocks in the center of the room with benches in two rings around the perimeter. The Saila communicates with the gods and tells the history of the people and the Argars listen to them singing and chanting and at the end of the message which lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours, the Argars interpret the message and explain how it relates to the daily life. After this members of the community can ask questions and make requests. For example, individuals must ask permission from the Saila if they wish to leave the island to travel to Panama City. It is obligatory for everyone to attend the Congreso on Sundays and Tuesdays and there is a desk in one corner where secretaries keeps notes on attendance and decisions made. If you fail to attend you risk bringing bad luck onto the whole community. The Congreso was very interesting and Teo and Nikolaj sat quietly for longer than we expected they could.
We really appreciated our stop on Mormake Tupu and the Restrapo family were generous with us and shared their culture and were happy to answer some of the questions we collected in the Guna Yala.