CULTUKE OF PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA . 25 



De Puydt asserts to have descended to the Tanela village and even 

 beyond; but, on the other hand, their chief, Suza-le-Lele, who was 

 very unwilling that Lieutenant Commander Schulze should explore 

 their domain, told him that he was the first white man who had ever 

 penetrated so far. 



" The Indians of the Atrato Valley, called Choco, are of a much 

 milder disposition than the Darien. They (Choco) were entirely 

 subjugated by the Spaniards, and under these hard taskmasters were 

 almost depopulated, and lost their tribal organization. Here and 

 there families are to be found upon the rivers. They are quite inof- 

 fensive, and ready to offer their services as boatmen or guides. They 

 are not averse to labor, and at Cupica Bay (on the Pacific coast) I 

 found them tilling the ground by the side of the Spanish negro, 

 whom, in their present degraded condition, they consider a superior 

 being. There are still at Cupica two or three families of Choco 

 Indians, the remnants of a numerous tribe who once peopled the 

 whole Atrato Valley. Cupica Bay is one of the best anchorages 

 on the Pacific coast of Darien and lies some forty miles beyond the 

 Serrania del Darien Mountains southeast of the southern boundary 

 of the Panaman Republic. It was one of the points proposed for a 

 canal terminus by means of the Napipi River which rises about 5 

 miles from the Pacific coast and flows eastward into the Atrato." 



The term Cuna-Cuna formerly was applied to include the various 

 tribes now known as the tame Cunas or Mountain Cuna, the Cunas 

 Bravos or wild Cuna, of whom even the tame Cuna of the upper Chico 

 River and lower Chucunaque are afraid, and many other tribes, includ- 

 ing the Caribbean coast Tule or San Bias Indians, all of Avhom, with 

 slight variations, speak the same language. Originally they may 

 have been independent tribes, and even to-day old people of different 

 tribes can not be understood by members of other tribes. The sym- 

 bol of the Cuna, according to George G. Heye in Indian Notes (Octo- 

 ber, 1924, p. 195), is a 4-pointed star to symbolize the four con- 

 federated tribes and typifying the cardinal points of the compass; 

 the Towali in the north; the Tupi-Towali in the east; the Cuna in 

 the south; and the Teguala in the west. At the present time the 

 Teguala and the Tupi-Towali dwell about the headwaters of rivers, 

 although many members of these tribes have migrated to the island 

 keys of the Caribbean and mixed with the Towali and Tule, or San 

 Bias Indians. The Cunas Bravos are powerfully built, pale yellow 

 skinned, living between the upper Bayano and the Membrillo Rivers. 

 The Cuna men wear their hair long and gathered in a huge bunch 

 or knot at one side of the head, where it is secured by cleverly made 

 ornamental combs, or sometimes they wear their hair closely cropped 

 (pi. 35). 



