América Crítica

One hundred years after the Dule Revolution (1925). Identities, memories, and resistance of the Gunadule people. Introduction

Simone Ferrari — 2025-09-19

This article is the introductory editorial to the monographic issue One hundred years after the Tule Revolution (1925). Identity, memories, and resistance of the Gunadule people.

Gunadule resistance and territorial claims. Legacy of the Dule Revolution of 1925 on land and at sea

Bernal Damián Castillo Díaz — 2025-09-24

The Dule Revolution of February 1925 was a historic event in the Gunayala region of Panama, where the Gunadule people rose up against the system of oppression imposed by the Panamanian government, which sought to control and “civilize” the Gunadule population according to Western standards. Faced with this threat, the Gunadule authorities took up arms to defend their identity, culture, history, and territory. As a result of these events, the Gunadule achieved legalization of their lands through the creation of a comarca in 1938. This is a political-administrative division of an autonomous territorial region legally recognized by the State and with special rights to self-government, administration of justice, management of natural resources, and their own culture and language. However, not all lands were included in the comarca, as is the case with the western region known as Nurdargana, whose recovery the Gunadule are currently demanding through a lawsuit against the Panamanian State. Likewise, the Gunadule people are currently working to consolidate their territorial sea as part of their efforts to strengthen their autonomy and self-determination as the Gunadule Nation in Abiayala (America).

The effect of the 1925 Guna rebellion and the social sciences in Panama

Francisco Herrera — 2025-09-16

In February 1925, the Guna people of the San Blas region (now Guna Yala) rose up against the Panamanian state and established the short-lived Republic of Tule. The presence of Richard Marsh, an American, among the rebel groups allowed for the mediating intervention of the representative of the US legation in Panama, Glover South, and a peace agreement that helped regulate the role of the state in the region and contributed to the socio-political development of the Guna in the following decades, with a greater degree of political autonomy through the creation of the indigenous reserve, later declared a Comarca (1930, 1938). This work explores some aspects of the political and intellectual conditions that existed in Panama in the period immediately following the Guna rebellion in 1925 and the subsequent development of some social disciplines, especially anthropology, history, and indigenism. In addition, it will be seen how the Guna reinforced their already established image in relation to the state system and Panamanian society in general thanks to the reception of information from the media.

Arysteides Turpana: A Nation by The Sea

Sue Patricia Haglund — 2025-09-16

Aiban Wagua, a Dule scholar, writer and historian, affirms that in Dule society, literature is life. Moreover, Beth Brant, a Kanien’kehaka scholar, asserts, “writing is done with a community consciousness”. Following Wagua’s and Brant’s positions, these viewpoints are evident in the writings of Arysteides Turpana. Turpana’s poems reflect not the thoughts of a Dule poet as an individual; rather as from a nation. Audience members’ experiences of his works will differ when reading the poems themselves. A non-Dule reader may understand them as representing the thoughts and words of the individual poet alone. A Dule reader, on the other hand, may read them and see the collective thoughts and words of both the poet and his community. In this analysis, I focus on Arysteides Turpana’s poem, Archipiélago, which exemplify Dule way of life, Dule intellectual knowledge, and artistry, all of which demonstrate an enduring existence of the Dule nation, Gunayala, and Indigenous Abiayala.

Between Mediation and Revolution: Cosmocratic Threads in Gunadule Poetry from Panama

Simone Ferrari — 2025-09-16

The article examines the contemporary poetry of authors from the Gunadule people of Panama, with an emphasis on the anthology Bilaga Namagge, dedicated to the memories of the Dule Revolution of 1925. Through a theoretical approach that incorporates concepts from Guna thought such as argar (mediator) and makued (symbolic elevation), the study proposes interpreting Gunadule poetry as a practice of mediation between ancestral knowledge, political action, and poetic language. The article sheds light on how Guna poetics reconfigures or reaffirms certain epistemic dualities inherent to the Guna worldview. Specifically, the study focuses on the representations, tensions, and dialogues between poetic language and political action, between the human and the non-human, and between Guna and waga (non-Indigenous or foreign). Based on the poetic memories of the Dule Revolution, it is argued that Gunadule poetry does not merely serve as a tool for cultural preservation, but rather articulates new models and hierarchies grounded in its cosmocratic political vision.

Paintings, drawings, and protective lines. The molas gunadule of Colombia and indigenous graphic art among the Karajá in Brazil

Danielle Michelle Moura de Araujo — 2025-09-16

In this article, we analyze the ancestral knowledge embodied in the protective molas of the Gunadule people of Colombia and Panama, drawing parallels with the body painting of the Karajá people in Brazil. Our interest stems from the visual perception of certain similarities between the designs and lines present in both graphic expressions. The diversity of media—sewn fabrics in the case of the Gunadule and skin as canvas in the case of the Karajá—invites us to reflect on the relevance of these practices beyond ornamentation. To support the analysis, we drew on ethnographic works on the Karajá and the academic production of Gunadule authors, establishing a dialogue based on the theoretical assumptions of perspectivism, proposed by Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro.

The spirit of the 1925 Dule Revolution

Atilio Martínez — 2025-09-16

As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the Dule Revolution of 1925, we present a brief paper to highlight its background, especially the Panamanian government's attempts to eliminate Guna culture through repressive strategies. On the one hand, we will analyze the causes and consequences of this event in Panamanian history. On the other hand, we will highlight the strategy of the 1925 revolutionaries. In addition, we will address the challenges faced by the Dule Revolution of 1925. Next, we will briefly mention the bloody incidents that occurred. Finally, we will focus on the aspirations of the Guna people in the post-revolution period.

The Gunas. “User manual”

Massimo Squillacciotti — 2025-09-16

In the first part of the essay I take into consideration the image about the Gunas that is spread in various media, starting from comics, cinema, videos available online and then in some cases examples of "individuary" ethnographies. In the second part I explain who the Gunas are for me and how I came to know the spirit and identity of this people in my work with them and for them in the long period from 1981 to today, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Dule Revolution of 1925.

The Cisai of Siena and the Guna people. Field notes

Massimo Squillacciotti — 2025-09-16

The essay presents the work carried out by the Interdepartmental Center for Studies on Indigenous America (CISAI) at the University of Siena in various fields of research and study: anthropology and linguistics. A particular aspect of this work is the dissemination of Guna culture through exhibitions and “teaching about difference” in local schools, with the participation of Guna operators who are guests of the Center.

Bila burba, the film about the Dule Revolution

Mònica Martínez Mauri — 2025-09-24

This work is the transcript of an interview with Guna filmmakers Duiren and Orgun Wagua, conducted on February 13, 2025, at the Wagua Films production company office in Panama City. It discusses the film Bila burba and its production and making.

Weaving Cinema from the molas. A Conversation with Olowaili Green, Gunadule Filmmaker

Olowaili Green — 2025-09-24

This article is the transcription of a collective interview with Gunadule filmmaker Olowaili Green. It is a conversation about Indigenous cinema, oral storytelling, and her recent short films Galu Dugbis, Mugan Boe and Muu Palaa.