Kuna Ceremonies:

There are two important ceremonies both dedicated to the girls that take place at the Congreso House.

The first one take place when the Kuna girl reaches puberty (girls first menstruation), the father informs the men and her mother tells the women, Each men brings four large leaves from the mainland to build an enclosure, the girl is confined inside a surba means "leaf of shoot" in the shape of a room, during that time her mother will bathe her with sea water that she collects from the "ulu" ceremonial. To keep her replenished, she also gets washed by the women from the village, all the women go in groups to fetch water from the sea.  The family of the young girl offers fish ceviche with hot spicy seasoning to all the women of the community.

During this party, the girl is painted completely with jagua juice or "sabdur" (Kuna language) to protect her from evil spirits, and her hair is cuts slightly shorter.  The jagua juice is a white liquid founded deep in the forest . This is a premarital ritual, because after this party, the girl is allowed to get married. 

Later, villagers are repaid for their support with a one day communal celebration in which they consume an alcoholic drink brewed from sugar cane called "inna".  If the family has been able to save enough money, they offer the Inna Suit feast to the village.

The girl will be painted again with black jagua juice "sabdur" and she will spend hours serving the inna drink. 

The second puberty ceremony is "the inna-suit", in which the community celebrates the girl's transition into womanhood, "ina" is the name for the fermented drink prepare for these occasions.  

The inna-mutiki is a very important party filled with luxury that last for many days.  There is chanting, dancing, feasting and drinking, that take place from one to several nights. 

P.S.  There is lot more to learn about the Kuna Culture, be sure to buy the book "Mola and Kuna Traditions" that is listed on my website.  You can also view more Ceremonial and Cultural molas by going to my website:  www.molaartandcraft.com

There is so much to learn about the Kuna Culture: The Village, the housing, Social Organization, Daily life, Food Preparation, the dogout canoe, Religion, Ceremonies, Music song and dance, Medicine, Language, Economy.

The information that I provide on my blog is just basic, there is a lot more to learn about their tradition and culture. 

I suggest you to buy the book "Molas and Kuna Traditions" and this book is for sale on my website.