Clothing tourists may encounter
Panama's indigenous peoples developed their typical needle crafts for their own use, to suit their own tastes. To the dismay of some traditionalists, these arts aren't static --- the only cultures that don't change are dead ones, and Kuna molas aren't what they used to be in the same sense that Parisian fashions aren't stuck in the past either.
And yet, the art forms and fundamental features that make Panama's indigenous fashions indigenous remain recognizable as such, even when these fashions are made by people who are not themselves descended from the Americas' first nations.
Above we have an application of an art that was developed by the Kunas, done by Yolanda Lam, who isn't herself Kuna. Her mola-style ties draw interest from Kunas and sell well to both Panamanians and foreigners, and, because she designs things that other people then cut and sew, also give Kuna women work and income.
Below we see the needlework of Ngobe women by the side of the Pan-American Highway near Tole. Notice that some of the dresses for women and girls have the wide collars and puffy sleeves traditionally worn by the Ngobe, while others have neither collars nor sleeves. The latter dresses are unmistakeably Ngobe, but are in the international style more often preferred by non-indigenous people.
This is the season when the most foreign visitors come to Panama, and it should be no surprise that it's also a time of the year when practitioners of the country's indigenous needle crafts make a lot of their sales.
