For #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we are highlighting a textile tradition called mola. These appliqué embroideries are the work of Kuna (or Guna) women who live on islands in the San Blas Archipelago along the Atlantic coast of Panama and Columbia. The Kuna were driven from Colombia in the 16th c. by invading Spanish colonizers. Eventually, they settled on the coastal mainland of Panama, and by the 19th c. they moved to the islands where they now live. Mola (which also means "bird plumage") is the Kuna word for blouse, and the word has come to mean the elaborate reverse appliqué panels that constitute the front & back of a Kuna woman's blouse. Colonizers first described Kuna women as deliberate in their appearance, with intricate body painting. By the mid-18th c., Kuna women started wearing cloth blouses onto which they transferred the colorful patterns painted on their upper bodies. This is how the motifs of body adornment made the leap to layers and layers of cut & stitched cloth. This pair of hand-made wedge shoes was crafted from a mola panel which most likely depicted two swans, arranged back-to-back (hence the mirrored symmetry of the birds' heads & feathers positioned on the toes). These shoes may have been made as a souvenir appealing to tourists. Swipe through to see a similar intact panel, as well as a Kuna woman in her element. . . Shoes, 1980s Gift of the Ramos Family Foundation 2021.1807.1AB . . . 📸: @wikipedia