V\ c } o - 3 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 134 J o MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA, BASED ON SPECIMENS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BY HERBERT W. KRIEGER Curator, Division of Ethnology, United States National Museum \ & WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1926 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 134 MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA, BASED ON SPECIMENS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BY HERBERT W. KRIEGER Curator, Division of Ethnology, United States National Museum WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1926 ADVERTISEMENT The scientific publications of the National Museum include two series, known, respectively, as Proceedings and Bullet in. The Proceedings, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original papers, based on the collections of the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology, anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revisions of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are distributed as published to libraries and scientific organi- zations and to specialists and others interested in the different sub- jects. The dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in the table of contents of each of the volumes. The Bulletin, the first of which was issued in 1875, consists of a series of separate publications comprising monographs of large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasion- ally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, cata- logues of type-specimens, special collections, and other material of similar nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size has been adopted in a few instances in which large plates were regarded as indispensable. In the Bulletin series appear volumes under the heading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since 1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum. The present work forms No. 134 of the Bulletin series. Alexander Wetmore, Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D. C. hi ;; TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of contents v Introduction 1 History of collections from southeastern Panama in National Museum ; collections of W. M. Gabb ; A. Bienkowsky and Mrs. William H. Bell H. Pittier, William Markham, and other minor collections ; Marsh-Darlen expedition. Geography of Southeastern Panama 3 Location ; Caribbean coast ; Pacific slope ; geology ; Mountain ranges animal life. and passes ; rivers ; climate ; plant and Population : The Spanish, Negroes, and Asiatics 12 Spanish influence in Darien ; Panamanians ; Negroes ; Buccaneers newer immigrants. Population : The Native Tribes 16 Tribal boundaries and linguistic stocks; the Tule or Towali Indians; location of settlements and population ; Cuna of the interior ; Choco Indians ; physical characteristics of Darien Indian Tribes ; albinism preva- lent among the Tule. Domestic and Agricultural Arts 30 Houses ; illumination ; calabash ware and decorative design ; employment of canes and bamboo ; beverages ; domestic *atensils and implements of wood ; methods of food preparation ; agriculture ; methods of food pre- servation ; hammocks and stools ; children and their toys. Weapons, Hunting, and Fishing 48 Ancient warfare and weapon types ; boats and paddles ; metals and their treatment ; knives and celts ; blowguns and darts ; bows ; arrows ; com- pound arrowheads and harpoons. Pottery 63 Classification of types; materials; technique of pottery making; firing methods; stove censers ; pitcher vases; black ware; gray ware; bowls; effigy canteens and vases. Wood Carving 73 Significance of the wood carver's art in Darien ; human figures and animal wood carvings ; bird figure carvings ; reptile carvings. Medicine and Magic 83 Prevalent diseases and their treatment ; conjurers and magic ; charms and fetishes ; spirit images, medicine lodge, and spirit houses ; burial practices. Basketry 90 Basketry technique; materials; carrying baskets; fire fans: telescoping baskets and hourglass decorative design ; range of hourglass basketry technique ; other basketry types. Bodily Ornamentation and Clothing 98 Deformation of body ; hairdress and body painting ; rings and pendants : clothing; bark cloths; weaving implements; figured headbands; applique embroidery ; masks ; necklaces and pendants ; featherwork and headdresses. Music 115 Tribal differences in types of musical instruments!; calabash rattles; drums ; tubular rattles ; trumpets ; wind-blown pipes ; flutes ; vocal music. Summary 12S Tribal boundaries; comparison of culture traits; ethnic relationships to Central and South American cultures. Bibliography 131 Index 135 v MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA, BASED ON SPECIMENS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM By Herbert W. Krieger Curator, Division of Ethnology, United States National Museum INTRODUCTION Southeastern Panama is historically the oldest region of conti- nental America. Here, early in the sixteenth century, in so-called Darien, the country extending from the Chepo or Bayano River on the Pacific slope near the Canal Zone southeastward to the Atrato River on the Caribbean slope near the Colombian border, were made the first Spanish explorations and settlements. Within a few years, indeed as early as 1518, the Spanish were forced to leave Darien because of conflict with native tribes and, later, with English buccaneers and freebooters. They then established themselves at Panama City, more than 100 miles farther west along the Pacific coast. History of collections from southeastern Panama in National Mu- seum.—Ethnologically, southeastern Panama has remained practically unknown. It is therefore the object of this handbook to catalogue and to describe the several ethnological collections from this region now in the United States National Museum. Aside from the Wil- liam Markham collection in the Tioga Point Museum, Athens, Pa., partially described in the Bulletin of Tioga Point Museum, January, 1925, and the A. Hyatt Verrill Collection in the Museum of the American Indian, New York, described in Indian Notes, October, 1924, no catalogue of collections illustrative of the material culture of the native tribes of southeastern Panama has been published. Collections of W. M. Gabb.—The western half of the Pana- manian Republic, from the Canal Zone westward to Costa Rick, is better known anthropologically, and several well-known studies rela- tive to the archeology and ethnology of the aboriginal tribes have been published. As early as 1873 Dr. W. M. Gabb had studied the Bribri, Talamanca, and other tribes of Costa Rica and had forwarded to the United States National Museum a collection of necklaces, l 2 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM clothing, and textiles, gourd-work, headdresses, basketry, pottery, stone carvings from ancient graves, weapons, musical instruments, and articles of household and domestic use. Collections of A. Bienkoiosky and Mrs. William H. Bell.—"West- ern Panama, including the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Veraguas, and Chiriqui, is represented by a series of ethnological collections from the Guaymie, Talamanca, and other aborigines, dating back to a collection by John S. Lamson in 1883, including textiles, pottery, bows and arrows from the province of Chiriqui. A number of woven bags from Los Remedios, Chiriqui, was presented by Col. D. D. Gail- lard, U. S. A., in 1907, also by Mrs. D. E. Wright of Winchester, Va., in 1925. The Guaymie Indians of Bocas del Toro are represented by a collection of musical instruments, basketry, and gourdwork se- cured by Frank E. Read in 1909, while specimens of bark clothing, dance masks, and other objects, collected by A. Bienkowsky in 1907, represent Veraguas. Mrs. William H. Bell presented to the Museum in 1909 a collection of native weapons and textiles from the Guaymie of Bocas del Toro. Collections of H. Pittier, William Markham, and other minor collections.—Southeastern Panama, interchangeably referred to as Darien in this handbook, is separated from the tribal groups of western Panama by the beaten path of the Canal Zone. Several smaller ethnological collections from the Darien, or southeastern Panamanian, tribes were contributed by Charles L. Bullman in 1890, by Mrs. Caroline E. Bates in 191G, by Mrs. O. W. Barrett in 1918, and by others. Mrs. H. C. Curl, of Washington, D. C, collected a number of baskets in 1909 ; textiles consisting of woven bags from the Chucunaque River valley were collected by Col. David D. Gail- lard in 1911; a large number of objects representative of the culture of the Choco Indians of the Sambu River valley, South Darien, collected by H. Pittier for the Department of Agriculture and trans- ferred to the United States National Museum in 1912, consist of basketry, gourds, musical instruments, children's toys, bark cloth- ing, and weapons. It was not until 1924 that the ethnological material from Darien became at all adequately representative of the various native tribes living there. The year was remarkable in that three collections were presented to the museum ; the first one, by the Hon. Hoffman Philip, consisted of a small collection of ear ornaments worn by the Choco of the Cauca River valley, Colombia, William Markham, a resident of Cristobal, Canal Zone, for 15 years, presented a large number of articles from the Tule Indians