Cuna Communications is named in honor of the Cuna Indians of Central America
It's the birthplace of my wife, Rome. Cuna people are friendly, industrious, and strongly committed to preserving their rich cultural heritage and pristine tropical environment. Like most Native Americans, the Cuna battled for centuries to retain their independence, but unlike most, they eventually prevailed against overwhelming odds. After enduring years of coercion and mistreatment, the Cuna rose up against their oppressors and drove all foreigners, including Panamanians, off their remaining land. Combining stone-age tactics with brilliant twentieth-century statesmanship, the Cuna then appealed to the United States to prevent the inevitable and massive reprisal by embarrassed Panamanian authorities. In perhaps the finest moment in United States Indian affairs, the American government did intervene. A US Navy warship was dispatched and arrived in time to turn back gunboats sent to punish the unruly Cuna. On the warship's steel decks, the two sides negotiated a truce and a treaty granting the Cuna full rights to their land. Today the Cuna appreciate and courageously protect their autonomous territory, the Kuna Yala Comarca, from the forces of uncontrolled development that have destroyed millions of acres of fragile Central and South American rainforest. They deal with the civilized world on their own terms; terms that arose over centuries of struggle against the forces of assimilation. Perhaps this explains why guests are welcomed warmly but permanent settlers are not. Even though their territory is full of beauty, it is no tropical paradise. The land provides just enough natural resources for a subsistence-level existence, yet almost all Cuna still choose to spend their lives there fishing, hunting, and producing their marvelous artwork. Fortunately there are the rare exceptions. That's how a young sergeant met, married, and left Panama with a lovely Cuna girl willing to brave our strange, complex world. Today this American citizen takes equal pride in her native heritage and her adopted country... and always remembers to remind me the Cuna were "Americans" long before we showed up to rename everything. I'm very happy she stayed and continues to find something of great value in all us late-comers. Blue skies,
Mike Hagerty
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Cuna
Indians live in the San Blas Archipelago, a region consisting of more
than small 365 islands plus a narrow strip of land on the Atlantic coast
of the Republic of Panama.