The story about the center colorful block from Panama came from Susan, who donated the block:"Believe it or not, this mola was made by the sahila, or chief, of Acuadup, our favorite, little-visited village in Kuna Yala. We had been ashore visiting the school and seeing the children, when a young girl came up to us and offered this mola for sale. She said that the sahila had made it. We didn't think that was possible, so we expressed some skepticism, and were assured that no, he really had made it. We were intrigued. As we walked around the island, many of the people in the village came out to ask if we would take their photos, as they had heard that we would do this and print a copy for them. Suddenly, there was Sahila Roberto, also wanting his photo taken, along with two of his grandsons. We were delighted to take his picture, and the others, as normally the Kuna are shy of cameras. This was a classic "win-win," where we could take all the photos we wanted, and they could get photos of themselves. We asked the sahila about the mola, and he said yes, he dabbled in mola making, and that it was indeed one of his. (We don't really know the word for "dabbling," but we thought this was the gist of it....after all, the sahila has a lot of responsibilities and probably doesn't spend that much time making molas.)
(Photos are available from LJP) and are of the village, along with one of Sahila Roberto. The chiefs typically wear fedoras and bright shirts like the lime green one he is wearing, along with long pants and no shoes. When one meets them, they are usually sitting or lying in a hammock in the congreso, or big meeting house. Usually the chiefs only speak in Kuna, and have an interpreter there to translate from Spanish to Kuna. However, Roberto spoke Spanish directly with us. Hope this is the kind of information that will be useful to Marlys. The quilt looks very cool.
Love,
Susan
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