The Kuna Mola

Abstract

The Kuna Indians of Panama have become identified with the mola blouses worn by Kuna women. The impact of colonization and the subsequent transculturation gave the Kuna access to the materials needed to sew molas which were subsequently used as a signifier of political resistance. Beginning in 1919, the Panamanian government instituted policies that amounted to ethnocide, in an attempt to destroy Kuna culture, including progressively prohibiting components of Kuna women’s dress. The Kuna Revolution in 1925 resulted from resistance by the Kuna people to the Panamanian government edicts to adopt Western style clothing and other customs and led to the granting of an autonomous Kuna territory. This paper explores the impact of the Kuna Revolution on the wearing of the mola blouse and on its design.

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