The Kuna
Indigenous People of Panama
Kuna Yala - San Blas Archipelago

The Kuna people live in the San Blas Archipelago and the Darien of Panama. 

Note: This page will be published in January 2002. In the meantime we invite you to view our Kuna Photo Gallery and visit other Indigenous Groups from Central America. 

In the following pages, we will feature various subjects such as, History, Culture and Lifestyle, Cultural Preservation Efforts (and Human Rights), assessments of Eco-Tourism and Local Guides and our Photo Gallery.

General Information

In the census of 1990, the population of Panama was 2,329,329 inhabitants of whom 194,166 or 11.8% were Indigenous. The republic of Panama is divided into 9 provinces and its Indigenous population is formed by 7 distinct groups which are the Kuna, Embera, Waounan, Ngobe, Bugle, Nassau, and Terribe people. The first Comarca Indigena, official Indigenous territory in Panama was created in 1938 in the San Blas archipelago by the Kuna people. In the province of Darien, the Embera and Waounan people joined forces and organized themselves politically to create the Comarca Embera-Waounan in 1983. It encompasses the districts of Cemaco and Sambu.

PHOTO GALLERY

KUNA

Contact Sheets 3-5 Kuna Indigenous People

Other Indigenous Groups from Panama

EMBERA DRUA

Contact Sheet 1 Ceremonial Dances	Contact Sheet 2 Jagua Body Painting	Contact Sheet 3 Survival; Fishing, Dugout Canoes
Contact Sheet 4 Food & Crafts	Contact Sheet 5 Children	Contact Sheet 6 People
	Contact Sheet 7 Friends from Embera Drua

OTHER VILLAGES

Contact Sheet 8 EMBERA PURU, Body Painting

Contact Sheet 9 ARIMAE, Body Painting

Contact Sheet 10 PUERTO LARA, Waounan Life

Note: Background photographs and design by Jean-Philippe Soule (c) 1997

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