Page 267 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Central Guna Yala Guna Yala 265

(inna in Guna), the potent mind-numbing sugar-cane-based homebrew, is left to ferment in
large clay urns for major celebrations such as a young girl’s puberty ritual (see box, p.266).
CHANGES TO GUNA SOCIETY
as in any society, Guna life is evolving: numerous communities now have piped fresh water
from the mainland; electricity (albeit limited, and often solar) is available on many village-
islands; cement block buildings are increasingly common; shops stock canned food, sweets and
biscuits, whose wrappers often litter the streets; the use of mobile phones is mushrooming; and
the iconic Guna traditional dress is declining among women. that said, molas – the colourful,
reverse-appliqué, multilayered panels that make up the most distinctive part of their traditional
blouses – are still a major source of income for the Guna.
Christian churches have taken root on some islands, on the understanding that they respect
traditional religion. Despite the Guna authorities’ success in insisting on intercultural bilingual
education, schooling is primarily about preparing young people for a modern industrialized
society. In this respect, many Guna hope that tourism, if managed carefully, may help ensure
that changes in lifestyle can coexist with more established mores. 7
already, tourism has played a pivotal role in the Guna’s reluctant but inevitable
metamorphosis from a collective barter economy – the word for “money” does not exist in
Guna – to a more individualistic cash economy. the resulting economic inequalities have
put a strain on communities that are already struggling to deal with major social upheavals
due to increasing contact with outsiders (uagmala) and returning urbanized Guna who are no
longer prepared to live as their ancestors did. Environmental damage by outsiders and the
Guna themselves constitutes a further challenge, often exacerbated by tourism, especially in
western Guna Yala. Issues include waste disposal, overfishing, particularly of lobster, reef
degradation and deforestation of the mainland.

San Ignacio de Tupile
Ten kilometres southeast of Playón Chico, midway along the comarca, lies the
well-organized community of San Ignacio de Tupile (Dadnaggwe Dubbir). As you
step out of a boat at the community pier, you are greeted by a statue of the Virgin
Mary – an indication of the island’s fairly widespread evangelization. Though
tourists rarely visit, the vibe among the 1500 inhabitants is relaxed and welcoming,
particularly if your visit coincides with the patron saint festivities (July 28–31),
when you can join in the celebrations marked by rowing races and various
competitions.
Beyond the statue stands the primary school, where a wide main boulevard peels off
left. The streets are kept spick-and-span, as community regulations mean families are
held responsible for disposing of rubbish on the mainland. Rules are equally strict
about getting a permit to leave the island, aimed at curbing what elders see to be the
moral decline among some of the younger members of the community. Squeezed
between two public phone boxes, the strangely whitened face of General Inatikuña, the
community’s first saila following relocation from the mainland to the island in 1903,
stares out across the street.
Excursions are available to the unremarkable nearby beach on Ilestup (“Isle of the
Englishman”, after a gent who lived there in the 1700s) and to the Río Yuandub
Gandi, where alligators laze on sandbanks and a rainbow of birds flit in and out of
the foliage.
aRRIVal anD DEPaRTuRE San IGnaCIO DE TuPIlE
San Ignacio is a 30–40min boat ride from Playón Chico, the nearest airstrip.
EaTInG
Community restaurant By the wharf. The community’s serves a decent plate of fried fish with rice and plantain.
only restaurant is up the stairs to the right by the wharf. It Daily 6am–7pm.

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