The dress of the Emberá is particular, through the clothes and especially their accessories, they tell stories. With monkey teeth, bones and seeds, they made necklaces, bracelets and applications, which they replaced with plastic or fiberglass chaquiras (beads or beads) and bright colors.
There are accessories created for the wedding, the birth or the funeral. In children, black and red necklaces and bracelets are placed on the left leg against the evil eye, and which must be blessed for them to take effect. Young people wear bracelets on their right arm if they are single and on their left arm if they are engaged.
Chaquiras of different sizes and colors are combined to produce patterns that represent concepts related to their beliefs and traditions.
| Meaning of colors |
| Blue | sky, sea, space |
| Red | blood, race |
| Green | Nature |
| Yellow | gold, sun, joy |
| orange, purple | Flowers |
| White | clouds, peace |
| Meaning of shapes |
| Spiral | Path |
| Diamond | The 4 Seasons |
| Circle | unity, community |
| broken lines | cordillera |
| Geometric figures | feelings towards mother earth |
The loom is a wooden board with the length of the piece to be made, the chaquiras are inserted by hand, and the mooring is done with a needle.
Loom
Mothers have taught daughters from generation to generation, the techniques, the meaning of each color, signs and designs, starting with the weaving of cultural heritage.
The most popular piece is the Okama, a necklace with a strong symbolic content and for exclusively female use. The boys wear the Otapa, a rectangular necklace.
Okama (“Path that passes through the neck”).
Necklace that confers distinction on the woman who wears it, telling her story and her role in the community.
Girls use them small, and older women use them relative to what they've been through.
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