CULTURE OF PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA 80 



Dr. Reginald G. Harris notes 32 the importance that sculpture in 

 wood plays in the daily life of the Tule Indians. Every household 

 has a box of twenty or more spirit wood carvings that are supposed 

 to be the habitation of the good spirits. Under favorable conditions 

 the indwelling spirits will inform the doctor how to cure illness or 

 how to relieve a fever patient. 



When a member of the family is ill the box of wood carvings " sooar meme" 

 (Tule) is placed on the ground beneath the head end of the hammock con- 

 taining the patient, and the medicine man is summoned. Seated on the floor 

 at the foot of the hammock, in front of an earthenware jar containing smolder- 

 ing embers, he chants the medicine song to the sooar meme. In addition 

 to the small household sooar meme. there are large, human-sized figures 

 which seem to be closely linked with the well-being of the whole village. 



Closely related to the sculptor's art among the Tule Indians are 

 the arts of picture painting and picture writing. Pictures are made 

 with colored crayons obtained from traders and are expressions of 

 the artist's untrained imagination, resulting in peculiar combina- 

 tions in design, color, and composition of animal life found in the 

 environment of the artist. Pictographic writing deals with songs. 

 experiences of daily life in hunting, fishing, and in jungle adven- 

 ture. Accounts of the symbolic ceremonies connected with various 

 festivals such as the harvest festival and weddings are thus re- 

 corded. The pictographs are more conventionalized in the techni- 

 cal " books " of the lele than in the poetically employed descriptive 

 narratives. The writer begins at the lower right hand corner of 

 the page and writes toward the left. He begins the second line at 

 the left and writes toward the right. The third line from the 

 bottom is again begun at the right. The scribes are considered wise 

 men and are respected not only for their ability to write but for 

 their knowledge of the tribal lore and ceremonial practices. 



MEDICINE AND MAGIC 



Prevalent diseases and their treatment. — Any discussion of the 

 medicinal practices of the Darien tribes and of the materials em- 

 ployed by them in effecting a cure involves a study of their asso- 

 ciated vocal and instrumental music, various magical practices and 

 devices, their wood carving, and other arts. There is, to be sure, a 

 fund of knowledge possessed by the aborigines that might be termed 

 scientific and which relates mostly to the healing value of plants, 

 but applies also to such practices as the use of cooling baths for fever 

 patients. Emphasis is placed on the need for quiet surroundings 

 for those stricken with illness. Many plants and trees are of value, 

 the leaves, roots, and bark being utilized. If the vegetable or plant 

 has natural curative properties the task is easy, but an additional 



]i World's Work, June, 102o, p. 217. 



