Kuna the Muslim Guards of Panama - Colombia Border

Kuna the Muslim Guards of Panama - Colombia Border

The Guna, also known as Kuna or Cuna, are an indigenous people ofPanamaand Colombia. The current preferred and legally recognized spelling is Guna. In the Kuna language, they call themselves Dule or Tule, meaning “people”, and the name of the language in Kuna is Dulegaya, literally “people-mouth”.^[2]

Location

The Kuna live in three politically autonomous comarcas or reservations inPanama, and in a few small villages in Colombia. There are also communities of Kuna people in Panama City, Colón, and other cities. The most Kunas live on small islands off the coast of the comarca of Kuna Yala known as the San Blas Islands. The other two Kuna comarcas in Panama are Kuna de Madugandí and Kuna de Wargandí. They are Chibchan-speaking people who once occupied the central region of what is now Panama and the neighboring San Blas Islands and still survive in marginal areas.