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Show KNOW YOUR' fcifk-k-k Jy NEIGHBOR CRA.a SAN BLAS ARCHIPELAGO PANAMA'S WONDERLAND Here and there, on this relatively relative-ly civilized hemisphere of ours, are nucleus of population that seem to have escaped from the influence of "the white man", to have kept their traditional customs cus-toms and primitive ways, to be as genuine and untouched as when Columbus first landed on the continent. con-tinent. One of these picturesque, wild and secluded spots is San Bias archipelago off the coast of Panama. Tradition has it that Columbus on first seeing the group of islands is-lands declared that they must be as numerous as the days of the year and that surprisingly enough when they were counted it was found that there were, in fact, 365 of them. They stretch on the Carribbean sea over a distance of more than 100 miles from Colon in the northeastern part of Panama Pana-ma to the border of Colombia "emerald green topped with palms above which rise the peaks of green mountains," and studded with thatched cottages. Not connected con-nected with the mainland, and the rest of the world, by either mail, telegraph or telephone, San Bias archipelago's only contact with civilization is through the plane or boat from Colon which picks up coconuts and brings to the natives na-tives such goods as are not available avail-able on the islands. One motor boat has been equipped especially for tourists' excursions for, although al-though until recently the people of San Bias resented bitterly the visits of white men, they are to- ut girls are carefully watched over. ov-er. At marriage the man moves into his wife's house; the more sons-in-law an Indian has, the more workers he has." and therefore, there-fore, daughters, son-in-law producers, pro-ducers, are valuable possessions. Extremely indpendent in spirit, the natives of San Bias simply refuse re-fuse to be assimilated by civilization. civiliza-tion. The Catholic church has made little progress there, except maybe in Nargana, the chief town which has about 500 inhabitants. In the same way, education had made practically no headway until un-til very recenly.because of the In- riinn hplipf that" tVirvcjA wVin lonrnprl to read and write would go to hell when they died. Although San Bias natives live by their own tribal tri-bal laws, they are citizens of the republic. "Panama gives them a certain amount of local autonomy, prevents their exploitation and provides for them such paternalistic paternalis-tic care as seems necessary for their survival." The government maintains a resident commissioner commission-er at Porvenir, the entrance to the archipelago; the duties of this official of-ficial are principally to maintain order, to register ships and passengers pas-sengers entering San Bias, and make sanitary regulations. No. Dorothy Lamour is not unique on our continent. If you want to make sure of the fact, go to Panama's San Bias, where the Caribbean 'beats against palm-dotted palm-dotted islands, where, in the year 1945, every woman still wears a sarong. day tolerated as long as they do not spend the night on the islands. These "range in size from islets with perhaps half a dozen palm trees to thickly populated islands like Portagandi where the paramount para-mount chief of the San Bias islands is-lands lives and rules." The total population of the archipelago may be roughly estimated at about thirty thousand. Who are these San Bias Indians ' anyway? Known also as Cunas they are of a short, stocky race somewhat Asiatic in appearance, with high cheek bones, slanting eyes and dark straight hair. "Although "Al-though in contact with Europeans since the 16th century, they have maintained racial purity and independence inde-pendence by vigorous opposition to foreign settlement and by intermarriage. inter-marriage. Their language is a Chibchan dialect with Spanish influence and their culture shows South American origin." Quite often of-ten albino children appear among the pure-blooded Indians of San Bias; weird and ghostly, they marry mar-ry among only themselves and are known as "moon children'. While men wear shirts with tucked bosoms bos-oms and derby hats, the women's attire is reminiscent of the ancient Egyptians. Clad in brightly colored col-ored sarongs made of home-spun fabric, their heads covered with a veil or shawl, they all wear nose rings of pure gold, little girls' noses being piecced since a few days after birth. Another of their customs is to bind the legs of women so as to cause an atrophy of the calves in their admiration for slender legs. San Bias indigenes indige-nes lead the simple and unpretentious unpreten-tious life of primitive tribes. They sail canoes, fish and cultivate the soil on the mainland, never staying stay-ing overnight on their plantations, however, but returning to their homes on the islands. Their principal prin-cipal export crop is coconuts. "Labor "La-bor is strictly divided. Women work in the house and carry the coconuts. The men provide the food and gather the coconuts. Boys are worth little -in San Bias |