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Panamanian Conte Bowl

Ancient Panamanian art has been lost through out history, a few artifacts have been stored and saved from deteriorating thanks to methods of burial or by being placed in ancient elite interments. Socio and cosmological Panamanian concepts can be learned by studying these types of ceramic peices. This Pedestal Plate which is in Conte style is estimated to be from around A.D 600 to A.D. 800. This specific Bowl is held in a private collection and was photographed in 1991. Different interpretations can be made depending on what pint of view you study the peice. Mary W. Helms, an author on Panamanian history, studies the colors and shapes in the Conte Bowl to tell they story behind the beautiful artwork. This Conte Bowl consist of the colors black, dark red, and brown. In Helms evaluation the color black represents a Panamanian serpent, to be more exact a Boa Constructor. The Panamanian Serpent can be traced back to cosmic or mythological Mayan version of Rainbow Serpent, commonly known in indigenous mythology. The Rainbow serpent to many ancient people connects the rainbow and snake, demonstration how it is important for life to have water. The Red portion of the bowl is representing mammals, small appendages can be seen, representing the presence of life. The red and black work together to show ingenious appreciation of the mystical and the living. The brown in this piece makes it's way around the appendages, glorifying the female anatomy. Museums all around North America posses these artifacts, there isn't only one but as many native artifacts, hundreds can be found and all encode different stories and meanings.

Nuchukana of the Kuna

The Kuna people, originally referred to as the Guna people, are natives to the land which is not known as Panama and Guatemala. These people often have sacred rituals or traditions, one of them being the Nuchukana. Paolo Fortis writes about Nuchukanas in his 2012 book "Kuna Art and Shamanism : An Ethnographic Approach". Nuchukana are wooden carved human-like figures. They are used to cure people from illness or to bring back the dead. Although they are a mythological practice, these wooden figures hold a sentimental and cultural value that the Kuna people hold near to their hearts. When a person is in need a proper ritual is done involving chanting and tobacco smoking. The Nuchukana are asked to search for the cause of a persons illness. When the Nuchukana are not being used they are kept in an bundle throughout the house, they Kuna believe that evil spirits will be kept out of the home. For this same reason the Nuchukana figures are respected and sometimes even showed off to visitors and friends. Each Nuchukana hold a story or a tale of why it was created and why it is so special. Elder Kuna people respect the Nuchukana and treat them as if tobe part of the family. It is important for he Kuna to keep Nuchukana sacred, therefore only young girls or elder grandmother bath and clean Nuchukanas, all men and older women are not allowed to clean the Nuchukana. It is possible for some Kuna people to Prefer a specific Nuchukana, making a special personal connection between a human a wooden figure. Nuchukanas are so valuable that they are even inherited from generation to generation. Once a Nuchukana wooden figure deteriorated, it is simple tossed away, sometimes accompanied with a chant, but not all the time. Today, these Nuchukana's can be found in the rural homes of the Guna people, or in local museums that were able to take care of these objects.