108 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



A weaving paddle (Cat. No. 327512, U.S.N.M.), 59.9 cm. (23.6 

 in.) in length and 12.1 cm. (4.8 in.) wide, carved by the San Bias 

 Indians and used b}< them in beating down the woof, has a more 

 polished surface and the workmanship is less crude than that of the 

 Cuna. It has a geometric ornamental design incised on the handle 

 surface. Another weaving paddle, made by the San Bias coast 

 Tule, 49.7 cm. (19.5 in.) long by 12.1 cm. (4.7 in.) wide, has a 

 diamond-shaped handle knob or guard and a lanceolate blade (Cat. 

 No. 327513, U.S.N.M.). 



Figured headbands. — One of the simplest examples of native 

 loom work, likewise one on which the Darien Indian lavishes his 

 best artistic efforts in geometric figured design, is the headband. 

 It is known to the Tule as "kurkiu mora." A headband is woven 

 by the Mountain Cuna from cotton fiber into a close mesh band 

 42 cm. long, including the fringed border at each end. The head- 

 band has a multi-colored design of red, white, black, green, and 

 pink. 



The coast Tule weave a similar headband to be worn on gala 

 occasions with the fringes at the back of the head. The band is 

 placed around the forehead and temporal regions. The ornamental 

 design is the snake pattern described by Roth (Cat. No. 327415, 

 U.S.N.M., pi. 29, No. 1). Another headband, worn by the Moun- 

 tain Cuna for ornamental purposes on festive occasions, is similar 

 to the one previously described. Woven from cotton yarn to a 

 length of 40.3 cm. with a decorative pictograph woven in colors 

 indicating the sinuous movement of the snake; dots are pictographic 

 representations of the body surface markings of the snake (Cat. No. 

 327416, U.S.N.M., pi. 29, No. 2). A frame for making headbands 

 is called " kas urgo " (Tule). 



Applique embroidery. — A woman's chemise " mola " from the 

 Tule Indians of the San Bias coast, collected by William Markham, 

 is made in three pieces. The garment is composed of a colored 

 striped cotton yoke with the short side panels barely reaching to 

 the hips. These panels are covered with variously colored strips 

 of applique work in red, blue, and other colors sewn together on 

 a base of cotton cloth and representing conventionalized pictographs, 

 the design for which has been borrowed from the Cuna of the 

 interior. A cross at the center is probably a squid reaching out 

 its tentacles, while four objects lying between the tentacles or arms 

 of the squid represent fishes. The Cuna of the interior were form- 

 erly supposed to have a system of pictographic writing expressed in 

 applique work, the design of which was copied by the Tule. The 

 ideographic significance of the characters, fish, and animal figures, 

 however, remained unknown to them. The entire panel represents 

 a turtle (Cat. No. 326819A, U.S.N.M., pi. 25, No. 1). 



