We spent a couple days after our hike on the island of
Usuptu (translates to Rabbit Island) which was the home to the main leader of
the revolution, Nele Kantule. The Gunas
occupy the Caribbean shoreline on the eastern most side of Panama. They won their independence from the
Panamanian government in 1925 making them the first (I believe) indigenous
group in the Americas to win their independence. They have since been an autonomous state – no
outsiders own land or businesses within their territory.
We went to the town square in the afternoon to watch
reenactments which were narrated in Guna but looked a lot like Latino soldiers
killing off Gunas one by one – throwing fake blood at them while another guy
put off a cap gun type contraption.
Now I would normally shy away from telling drinking stories,
but I think it was the drinking that really brought this event together.
With their independence secured for the 88th year
in a row, it was drinking time! We all
filed into a dark thatched roof building; smoke and people everywhere. The men took one side and the women the
other. The men got in a line of six
facing a line of men with totumas
(bowl/cup made out of a dried ghord) of the party drink. There were no mojitos, margaritas, or even
national beers at this party. The drink
was chicha fuerte, fermented sugar
cane juice with coffee and cacao grounds.
The men with the alcohol would dance and yell; those in the receiving
line would reciprocate, copying the man in front of him, yells again from the
gate keepers until it turned into one big jumble of gritars coming from dancing men.
Once the men had successfully “fluffed their feathers” they got their chicha and downed it.
The women had more of a free-for-all mosh pit style to their
consumption. There was no line, you just
waited for a woman with a totuma to
come up to you and offer it.
The best part of the ladies side were the HARMONICAS! I got one at one point and went to town!
There was a woman with a giant bowl of cigarettes (and
suckers). Men smoking a giant tube of
rolled up tobacco leaves – sticking the lit end in their mouths to take a drag.
We were all pretty tipsy when we started looking at the time
and it was only 9:30am. Still a whole
lot more partying to be had?! There was
a plump little woman who had befriended me and she came back with a totuma.
It was a really large one so I
took a couple sips and handed it back.
She refused to take it so I tried to pass it to the guy next to me. She said, “No. You can’t share. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Would you share him with another woman?”
“Well, no.”
“It’s the same thing. You can’t share
the chicha.”
I thought that was pretty funny so I downed it and then called it quits.
K. Nettles
We headed home past drunk grandmas stumbling home with
stupid grins on their faces, another woman under each arm. We saw a fellow volunteer off in the distance
carrying a man over his shoulder to leave him at his home.
S. Farley
It was an interesting experience alright. They have this “house of chicha” a couple times a year for the independence celebration and
for girls’ coming of age celebration.
The idea is that the liquor and smokes are free to everyone so you can
celebrate even if you don’t have money.
The next morning we got up before the sun and were on boats
back toward the city. It would be
another 5 hours before we got to land and then another couple hours in an SUV
to the city. Our journey was complete.
E. Jones
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