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[Editor's Note: This is Leslie's outline for a talk she gave for the course "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Ancient Americas" at Los Angeles Community College in December 1997 on the Molas of San Blas. Links to sites with pictures of molas appear at the end of this paper. A link to the research outline on which it is based appears at the end of the paper and here. The research outline has more details and references. Kind of interesting.]

1. Identification
   1. Molas are made in San Blas, Panama. San Blas is an independent state of Panama owned by a people who speak a dialect called Cuna, and so are referred to as Cuna by outsiders. They call themselves Tule, meaning "The People". San Blas encompasses the southern half of the eastern coast of Panama, and includes 365 off-shore atolls protected by a barrier reef. Tule reside in villages on about 50 of the islands, using the remaining land for food cultivation.
   2. Formalistic description.
      1. Molas are made by the women of the San Blas Islands.
      2. Mola means blouse, the word has come to refer to the applique panel on the front of a Tule woman's blouse.
      3. Reverse applique (pass around sample)
      4. ID of a quality mola: Intense variety and combination of color; Small, invisible stitching, smooth, non-bunched curves, and intricate detail with minimal blank space.
2. THE BIG QUESTION: Are molas authentic art of the Tule or a by-product of their exposure to European influences?
   Thesis: Though the history and production of molas reveals marked European influence, molas are a fundamental expression of Tule values and beliefs.
   1. After a superficial analysis, one might conclude that this art is of primarily European influence:
      1. Molas first appeared in the mid-19th century, after extensive exposure to European culture. Example: a colony of French Huguenot refugees resided with the Tule 1700-1757.
      2. Materials and tools of production are European: small, steel scissors and needles.
      3. Almost 15% of molas have non-Tule themes: magazine advertisements and posters, Christian scenes and imagery, modern objects including aircraft, record players, musical instruments, political figures and spacecraft.
      4. Molas are a principal tourist export.
         1. The islands of San Blas are a regular stop of the major carribean cruise ships.
         2. In the early 1970s a co-operative market was established in Panama City by the Tule under the sponsorship of the Peace Corps. (Show sample.) To increase production, many of these items are produced using a sewing machine.
   2. HOWEVER, studied in context with Tule cultural tradition, the mola becomes an integral part of expressing and maintaining theirr cultural identity.
      1. Tule language has no written component.
         1. Obvious male counterpart of mola making: basket weaving and woodcarving.
         2. Actual counterpart: keepers of oral traditions. The evening hours are reserved for nightly meetings in the council house. In these meetings, presided over by the island sayla (or chief), (PURPOSE:) the day's activities are discussed and placed within the context of tribal traditions and complex codes of proper behavior. The sayla imparts traditional wisdom by chanting highly metaphoric myths and legends which are then interpreted and translated to the general populace by an arkar (or spokesman). During these meetings, the women sit together on long benches, wearing their molas and sewing new molas. Indeed, the women are summoned to the meetings by village policeman who call, "mor-mak-nam-a-lo-e" (go make molas!). The themes of these meetings are expressed in the subject matter of the molas, which become the formalistic expression of the oral recitations.
      2. Molas resemble early body painting: In the late 17th century Lionel Wafer, an English surgeon living with the Tule described this painting as follows: "...the women are the painters, and take great delight in it. The colors they like and use most are red, yellow and blue very bright and lovely.... They make figures of birds, beasts, men, trees or the like up and down in every part of the body, more especially the faces; but the figures are ... of Differing Dimensions as their Fancies lead them." The introduced concept of Christian modesty and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle both may have contributed to the transition from the more ephemeral body painting to the more permanant mola art form.
      3. References to colors found in molas frequently appear in traditional chanting by the men, and have highly symbolic significance representing various qualities, both positive and negative, within the universe. In Tule belief, each object contains many different qualities or energies. These qualities are reflected in the many colors that are within and emanate from mola subject matter. (Show example.) The most common oral references to color during ritual chanting includes red, yellow (gold), white, blue, black, and less frequently, green and orange.
      4. Tule beliefs focus on the interrelatedness of all things as part of a dynamic, all-encompassing energy. They seek to control unrestrained natural energy away from disorderliness and redirect it towards moral propriety that will bring balance and harmony to the universe. The mola is the visual expression of this belief. In a mola you see an object expressed and defined in Cuna terms.
      5. Subject matter
         1. Many mola themes reinforce ancient traditions. Side-facing animals, side-by-side twin animals in frontal stance, and repetitive, geometric patterns have been replicated for thousands of years in the Panama area.
         2. An understanding of Tule beliefs affirm the concept that things which are unusual or unique to the Tule must be represented and defined within Tule traditions. Thus, a mola of Douglas McArthur, represented in traditional mola design and color, depicts the universal essences within McArthur, their potencies, and how to use these powers within him to benefit the Tule people. Themes, whatever their content, are chosen by the perceived potency of their universal essences.
         3. To acquire status and wealth, Tule men traditionally spend time exploring the environment beyond their villages cultivating food on the mainland and the outer San Blas islands and looking for new concepts that would broaden their understanding of the Tule universe. Because of this they have been ready workers, hiring out on European pirate or merchant vessels or working in the canal zone or on the U.S. Army base.¹ Their experiences outside the village must all be defined in Tule terms at meetings and by incorporating the images into the mola.
      6. The mola establishes individual and group identity.
         1. The mola is the centerpiece of a very elaborate and unique Tule women's costume which defines a woman as Tule.
         2. Tule society is matrilineal: The groom moves in with the brides family. Molas are the principal expression of a family's wealth. The number and quality of a woman's molas attracts the most desirable groom. A woman's finest molas are worn at the major Tule celebration which is a 3-day feast called an Inna. Innas occur as a girl reaches puberty, and again when she is available to marry.
         3. The artistic quality of their molas is so integral to their identity within the village that Tule women bathe their eyes and hands in sapi karta leaves which has the reputed power to provoke artistic ability.
      7. Is the evolving nature of Tule culture as expressed in the relatively recent art form of the mola evidence of the disintegration of Tule culture? My conclusion is NO.
         1. Tule culture recognizes the dynamic tension between tradition and change, and understands that both are essential to the continued existence of their culture. It has traditional methods for incorporating new ideas into the fundamental belief systems of Cuna society. In its evening meetings, it devotes substantial energy to resolving conflicts between these two forces. The mola is the visual representation of this process.
         2. Because of these traditions, the Tule have survived and ultimately thrived during the incredible disruption and tumult caused by the European encroachment.
         3. With an estimated population of over 23,000, the Tule have firmly established their reputation as an organized political and economic entity within the country of Panama.
         4. The tension between tradition and change exists into the present, but an island existence allows for flexibility. Example: conservative islands vs. modern islands. Major goal of modern islanders is to assimilate into mainland society.
3. Why I Selected the Mola for My Presentation
   1. Art in Small-Scale Societies, pg. 165, figure 6-2: It was very busy: human figure with wings and smaller icons of human and animal forms and geometric shapes. It said "study me".
   2. The figure was unconsciously familiar: Both mother and father had molas in their homes which were given to them by my brother, an LDS missionary in San Blas for almost a year in the mid-80s.

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   ¹ A critical test of this system occurred in 1904: After the United States backed Panama's secession from Colombia, construction of the Panama Canal began. Outside activity skyrocketed, and many Tule men, now working in enterprises outside of traditional village life were heavily influenced by outside values. The tensions caused by this shift are chronicled in the following account:

   Narganá, one of the islands, in 1903 had elected as its chief Charlie Robinson, recently returned from many years on a West Indian ship, who began a "civilizing" program. His cause was taken up in subsequent years by a number of young men who had been educated in the cities on the mainland. These "Young Turks" advocated forcible removal of nose rings, substitution of dresses for "molas," and the establishment of dance halls like those in the cities. They were actively supported by the police, who arrested men who did not send their daughters to the dance hall; the police also allegedly raped some of the Indian women. By 1925 hatred for these modernizers and for the police was intense throughout the area. The situation culminated in the San Blas War of 1925. The rebellion, which resulted in the death of twenty police and garnered American diplomatic and naval support, established the San Blas region as a semi-autonomous Cuna territory of Panama. By the late 1970s, the Tule, with an estimated population of over 23,000, had firmly established their reputation as an organized political entity dedicated to preserving a traditional way of life and to accepting outside influences only on their own terms.

Some sites with mola pictures:

Kuna Yala Mola Gallery
The Art of Being Kuna
Mola typical of Cuna Indians of San Blas Panama

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