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In this introductory chapter the reader is exposed to some of the challenges set by the Western, exoticising view of Emberá clothing. The author’s own biases are revealed to aid the deconstruction of the Western view. ‘Ethnographic nostalgia’ and ‘indigenous disemia’ are introduced as concepts that aid the analysis. The chapter also includes (a) a review of existing anthropological work on clothing, which problematises the invisibility of indigenous-modern clothes, (b) an account of how the previous ethnographic record on the Emberá has framed the author’s approach and nostalgia, (c) a discussion of the methodological parameters that informed the author’s fieldwork, and (d) a short introduction of ethnographic sketching as a tool that exposes the author’s nostalgia.

The concluding chapter brings together some of the theoretical concepts introduced earlier in the book in a unified analysis. It employs the notion of indigenous disemia to describe the simultaneity of indigenous-and-modern elements in the identity of the Emberá. It also employes the notion of ‘ethnographic nostalgia’ as a vehicle to problematise the authentic and the exotic, as these are conceived in relation to Emberá representation. Every new ethnography, it is argued, structures nostalgia and authenticity—not merely via the authority generated by the writing process—but also by extending the bibliographical ‘record’ a bit deeper into the past. The resulting feeling of incompleteness—the realisation that we cannot really contain change in our writing—inspires ethnographic nostalgia, but also facilitates its demise. How can we prioritise the narrative we record—one authenticity—over the many that unravel in incomplete form in front of our eyes? Nostalgia, exoticisation, and the search for a singular indigenous authenticity are the ghosts that haunt our efforts to understand social change. But without them, and without the exotic recognition they have provoked—the challenge of new knowledge—we would not have had the opportunity to contest previous conventional views—including our own. Ethnographic nostalgia—however irredeemable it may be—has provided the ethnographer with the opportunity to recognise and contest the exotic.

The chapter provides a description of the old Emberá code of dress, as this is conceived, in static terms, as ‘tradition’. A description of the normative Emberá attire and the Emberá practice of body painting is indispensible—not only for the benefit of the uninitiated reader—but also as a point of departure for a more nuanced analysis in the following chapters. As the author reflexively admits, his scholarly comparisons with the previous ethnographic record structure his ethnographic nostalgia, and provide a measure of comparison to appreciate that even some of the most old-fashioned elements of the Emberá dress code are now re-adapted to meet contemporary concerns. Emberá attire, even when statically conceived as ‘traditional’, is subject to change.

The chapter focuses more closely on the dress choices in Parara Puru and the indigenous-and-modern clothes of its inhabitants. It demonstrates that is misleading to assume that Emberá dress codes follow a unidirectional and deculturating progression from indigenous tradition towards Westernising modernity. In communities that entertain tourists, such as Parara Puru, dress choices shift in the course of the day, or in the course of an individual’s lifetime, moving closer to, or further away from, indigenous aesthetics and practices. To convey the fluidity and complexity of local dress codes, the chapter explores dress combinations that bring together ‘modern’ and ‘indigenous’ elements, as well as the adaptation of some traditional clothing items, to accommodate conventional non-indigenous modesty. Attention is paid to the spontaneous, often accidental, re-emergence of old, informal dress styles during non-representational moments in daily life (e.g. after the tourists have departed), during which the Emberá of Parara Puru look as though they have re-emerged from the pages of old books. At this point, the author exposes reflexively his ethnographic nostalgia—evident in his pleasure in seeing cultural patterns from the past re-emerging in the cultural practices of the present.

The chapter explore in detail three examples of discontinuity, authentically embedded in Emberá everyday life. The first example focuses on a ‘traditional’ or ‘indigenous’ item of dress made in Asia specifically for an Emberá audience in Latin America: this is the cloth of the paruma-skirts, a clothing item considered by the Emberá to be an authentic mark of indigeneity. When parumas are combined with modern tops they generate unique indigenous-and-modern dress combinations. The second example follows the members of an Emberá family as they prepare to go to Church in an ‘authentic’ Emberá canoe that excites the author’s misplaced ethnographic nostalgia. Here, the Emberá put aside their indigenous clothes, without putting aside their Emberá identity. Their shift between modern and indigenous dress codes reflects a growing desire among the Emberá to be modern-indigenous people. The third example, unravels ethnographically a mimetic appropriation that represents a reversal of the exoticising gaze: Westerners who put on Emberá clothes, to embody indigeneity—reconstituting the authenticity of the imitation and the imitated.