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TAGUA THE ART OF THE WOUNAAN AND EMBERA CARVERS OF PANAMA |
Tagua ("ta-gwa") also called ivory nut or vegetable ivory, is the seed of several kinds of palms that grow in tropical rainforests. The durability of tagua and its similarity to animal ivory has been known for a long time. Before tagua was displaced by plastics in the 1930's, tropical countries exported large quantities of tagua to the U.S and Europe to make buttons and jewelry. After WWII, tagua buttons continued to be used by European and Japanese fashion designers. Thanks to efforts by Conservation International and environmentally conscious companies, the use of tagua buttons is increasing again in the United States.
Tagua and conservation. Unlike products made from animal ivory, tagua products help conserve rare and endangered species by providing an incentive to protect rainforest habitat. Most tropical deforestation is the result of hardworking rural people seeking income by converting the rainforest into low-quality crop land and cattle pasture. As they rapidly deplete the poor tropical soil, the small scale farmers sell their land to large scale ranchers and move to new forests. It is a process of hardship for their families and ruinous for the tropical environment. By producing a sustainable income from the intact rainforest, tagua carvers can provide both stability for their families and an alternative to rainforest destruction.
The Wounaan and Embera Peoples are master artisans whose comarcas (reserved lands) are in the eastern region of Panama near the border with Colombia. These native groups are known for their fine basketry and high quality wood carvings. In addition to crafting objects for sale, skilled wood carving has many traditional uses in the Wounaan and Embera cultures, including fabricating hunting weapons, canoe paddles, household furnishings and ceremonial objects. The Wounaan and Embera have recently extended their carving skills to tagua and have created a unique and imaginative art form from their rainforest habitat.
The Wounaan and Embera artisans carve tagua with hand tools and polish it with a series of abrasives. The natural color of tagua is ivory white with a dark brown skin. Natural inclusions are shades of brown and gray. Other colors are produced by dying the tagua with natural extracts of plants and earth, using the traditional methods for dying baskets fibers. If they are hand-painted, high quality inks are used.
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More information about Tagua |
When mature, tagua nuts fall to the forest floor, where they are harvested by hand. Sprouted seeds are not collected and their parent trees are not harmed in any way.
Most tagua comes from palm trees in the genera Phytelephas and Palandra. A common tagua palm in Panama is Phytelephas seemannii.
Tagua palms grow in the shade of other rainforest trees and in open wet areas.
Before WWII, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil exported approximately 5 million dollars worth of tagua per year to the United States and Europe.
In the 1920's, 20% of all the buttons produced in the U.S.A were made of tagua.