The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music Part Three: Nations and Musical Traditions, Middle Latin America, Kuna

Overview Kuna (Cuna) Comprised of several slightly different cultural groups sharing common language Located along rivers in Northern Colombia, Eastern Panama and Caribbean coast, and San Blas Islands Waterways significant to Kuna Both in terms of livelihood and as a metaphorical concept Place emphasis on communication Music a primary means of communication This aspect also evident in other Amerindian musical traditions (compare with the Tarahumara, and later chapters on lowland and highland Amerindian traditions) Vocal and instrumental music genres predominate Developed notation for memorization of extended chant Unique among other Amerindian communities

Kuna Musical Thinking Beliefs and music Music intimately linked to Kuna cosmology Instruments sacred and social Notions of musical/cultural change also reflect Kuna beliefs Traditions continually adapting Intimate connection between past and present New ways emerge from ancestral voices

Kuna Musical Thinking Kuna concept of music No Kuna equivalent for Western concept of music Igar (igala; “way” or “path”) Refers to most vocal genres Linked with communication Specific musical and linguistic conventions associated with each genre Learned through formal apprenticeship Non-igar vocal genres distinguished in terms of musical and linguistic conventions Intimate connection between genres, formal music structure, performance practice, style of dancing, and context

Musical Instruments, Contexts, and Genres Represented by Aerophones and idiophones only Aerophones primarily trumpets, flutes, and panpipes Two types of panpipes (bound and unbound) Panpipes organized and performed in complex ways i.e., Sets of two, three, or six organized either hierarchically, as complementary male-female pairs, or as like members Contexts and Genres Primarily vocal Including heightened speech (i.e., chant), and improvised singing Reflects connection between beliefs and music (i.e., music as communication) Association between genre and instruments Genres also reflect social identity (i.e., gender, age, etc.) i.e., chanting for healing, narrating history, and for puberty and funeral rites purview of adult males, requires specialized knowledge

Music and Beliefs Music, communication, and acculturation Sandra Smith outlines the relationship between Kuna beliefs and concepts about music, emphasizing the significance of communication for the Kuna Consider the following questions: How do Kuna conceptions of music and their use of music reflect Kuna ideas about communication? How is the Kuna notion of cultural change linked to Kuna beliefs and notions of communication? What implications do Kuna beliefs and notions of musical change have for our understanding of identity, tradition, and the relationship between past and present?