The Mola and Politics, Part II: Kuna Women Take A Stand

Abstract

Diana Marks completed her doctorate on the development of the Kuna Indian mola blouse, using an interdisciplinary approach, which included the examination of molas in museum and private collections, and archival photographs. Her current research includes studying the iconography on molas. Her first article in Dress (40, no. 1), covered the period 1900-1950, and looked at how Kuna men defended the right of Kuna women to wear the mola and the political ramifications of attempts to prohibit it. This second article provides examples of molas commencing from the 1950s, when molas directly referencing political parties and candidates began to appear.Mola blouses, sewn and worn by Kuna Indian women living in Panama, display iconography from many sources and are subject to fashion trends. This study examines molas with iconography related to local, national, and international politics dating to the 1950s and 1960s that are found in museum and private collections. These mola designs suggest the wide political concerns of Kuna women from the time of universal suffrage in Panama, exercised from the 1948 election, until the early years of the military dictatorship that began in 1968. The motivation of Kuna women is explored in terms of their changing roles in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and the political involvement of the Kuna people in Panamanian national politics. The purposeful promotion of political and social issues displayed on dress may be considered a direct form of activism.