"Eritsto" | New Saila Chief of Irgandi | Tasty Tuna | Kuna Prayers

"Eritsto" ... a Solid Church Member in the Irgandi Branch in His Hut

Hi Family!

Question: Any big storms or waves knocking you over?
Elder Doxey: Gratefully no! The sea has been peaceful and calm.

Tasty

Question: Tell us more about the pictures of these fish you sent!
Elder Doxey: Those are fish we were given by Church members. They caught 65 fish, many of them were Bluefin Tuna. One was an Elephant Tuna. There were some smaller lobsters in the mix as well.

We took them home and cooked them up in some oil and ate them—very tasty. Elder Gutke and I estimate that they essentially gave us the equivalent of $15 in lobsters, and $15 in Bluefin tuna and other fish. Very generous.

Bluefin Tuna with Elder Doxey's Favorite Esse Knife

Question: Looks like some great fishing gear there. Do you use that to catch food? Whose is it?
Elder Doxey: That is the Ukupa branch president’s fishing gear. He is in his 60s and will take that little box out on his cayuco and catch food for his family.

Nice Fishing Gear Collection Owned by Ukupa Branch President

The little kids (5 year olds) learn how to fish from him, but they do not have fishing gear. They just use bent nails on a string, with a little bait on the nail. It’s hilarious to see them try to fish.

Bent Nails ... DIY Fishing Hooks (Google Images)

Question: What is that white rat looking thing?
Elder Doxey: That’s a type of rat they find and eat from the forest. They love ‘em, we don’t eat them.

Kunas Love These, Elder Doxey Prefers Other Food

Question: That sign on the door says, “’For Sale: Sugar for 3 Coconuts’ and ‘For Sale: Rice for 3 Coconuts’ just call for Mr. Quelesta who is in control of them, so he can sell them.” How much sugar and rice do you get for 3 coconuts?
Elder Doxey: You get a little bag of each. Coconuts are definitely currency.  Each one is valued at about $.40, and each has an owner (so you don't just go taking coconuts at random).

Seems Like a Deal

Question: What else is new?
Elder Doxey: Presidente Garrett is doing our interviews over Google Hangouts, when we have the satellite on. He asked how we are doing, how learning Dule Gaya is going, how the branch is doing. He knows the Irgandi branch has been here for 50 years, and how culturally important it is to have missionaries here maintaining the branch. It’s a different kind of missionary work, for sure.

Question: Who is the man in the hammock? Elder Doxey: That is “Eritsto” … and 84 year old man in our branch. We think he is blind, but he is very active in the church for an 84 year old. He is the man who came with a cane and catheter in, sat there for awhile and then fell while having a seizure over a week or so ago. He lives about 50 feet away from the branch building. Speaking of church, we had 68 in church yesterday, so that is consistently good.

Eritsto and Elder Doxey in Irgandi

Question: Who takes care of Eritsto?
Elder Doxey: His family. He can still walk the 50 feet to church, so that is good. He is one of the most active men in the branch. Getting men to the branch is really tricky for many reasons. The main reason is because the village Saila Chiefs are like work foremen for the men here.

The men all are ordered by the village chief to fulfill a work assignment on Sundays. If one of the men does not participate in the work assignment, it comes out of his pay and/or his food supply for the week. This is how the Saila Chief keeps all the men working (building, hunting, gathering). Eritsto does not have to be on those work projects so he comes to church.

Question: Is that pretty common?
Elder Doxey: Yes, it’s common. We have to be very respectful of the Saila Chiefs and the unique Kuna “culture” they are trying to preserve. What they say, goes here.

[Note from Elder Doxey’s parents: This “squares” with Kuna history from long ago, and what we know about Guna Yala’s status today as a “reservation” for Kunas. Elder Doxey’s Grandpa Call often told us that for centuries no Caucasians were allowed to visit Guna Yala islands. In the early 1950s Grandpa Call was invited to visit, which was amazing. Even more amazing is that Chief Iguandipipi told him he was the first Caucasian they had allowed to stay the night on their island.]

Question: Do you know the Saila Chiefs?
Elder Doxey: I know “of” the Sailas but we are not invited to their rituals or nightly recaps where they govern their people. One positive thing that happened related to the Sailas lately is that we got a new Saila.

As Saila Chief of this people, he met with President Garrett, which resulted in an agreement to have Church here for another 20 years! So, I know “of” the new Saila, but I have not met him, and I don’t know the process that goes into selecting a new Saila Chief.

Tasty Lobster

Question: This question is from Grammie. Seeing that most of your 68 in church are women and little kids (because of the culture), have you ever thought about organizing a formal primary class, where it is kid focused, and they learn to sing Primary songs? Would that work?
Elder Doxey: It might work. We’ll have to see if we can teach them the Primary songs. We have a 20 lb. speaker that we could try to use.

The biggest challenge with that is the language. We do not have many hymn books in Dule Gaya. We have a ton in Spanish, but if you give a Kuna a hymn book in Spanish, they can’t always read it, so they’ll take it and rip out pages of it and use the paper for other purposes, or like wet wipes.

I’ve seen them do this to Books of Mormon in Spanish…they just don’t know what it is even saying when it is in Spanish. We see a book, they see paper (which is hard to come by around here).

Question: Do you have “Come Follow Me” manuals in Dule Gaya?
Elder Doxey: No, we have it in Spanish. The Kunas like to look at the pictures, but like a hymn book in Spanish, we see a book, they see paper that they can use for other purposes.

So, we need to communicate that. This is another reason the Book of Mormon videos are so important…they are not paper to use for other purposes.

Elder Gutke with Two Tasty Lobsters

Question: Who is the most faithful adult Church member woman in Irgandi?
Elder Doxey: They’re all strong and active…like a group of 15 women. They are good moms and good church members.

Question: Do the moms pray at home?
Elder Doxey: Yes, but it is “Kuna Style” praying, which is a bit different. Maybe if I imitate it for you you’ll understand how they pray.

[NOTE: At this point, Elder Doxey put both of his palms on his forehead, bent over and was rocking up and down, quickly mumbling random words in Dule Gaya…maybe a bit more violent or angry sounding than serene or peaceful prayers, but not recited].

Ok then!

Gotta run. Love to all,

 Elder Doxey