Editorial Photographer Colombia | Documentary Photos | Photojournalist Austria

Olo Tule – the gold people “Our parents told us we came from the stars and we are descended from beings from an other world.... “ This is part of a traditional Tule song about their history of their origin.The Tule (also known as Kuna) people in Colombia have been one of first indigenous ethnic groups in South America the spanish conquistadors encountered when they arrived at the coast of the Golf of Uraba.

Olo Tule – the gold people Nowadays the majority of the Tule (Kuna) people live in Panama, mainly on the San Plas islands which they call Kuna Yala. The migration to Panama started after years of conflicts with the Spanish invaders and the Catio people about 300 years ago. In Panama the Kuna were able to get some autonomy and keep their traditional lifestyles and customs. Though only the women still use the traditional colorful dresses with the Mola, wear gold nose rings and beaded arm and leg bands and face paintings.

Like in many other indigenous ethnics the men adapted to a more westernized clothing and don't make use of the old traditional clothes.

The Darien Gap in the Choco of Colombia is one of the most humid places on earth and Malaria and parasitic diseases are a big threat to the people living there. Not like in Panama, where the Kunas could gain a semi-autonomic status for their territories and have a much more advanced medical system then in the Tules in Colombia there are also threats from left-wing guerilla and right-wing paramilitary groups, who try to control the area of the Darian Gap as it is a major drug and arm route to Panama, the pacific and the atlantic coast.

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