the funeral, some families abstain from eating salt or sugar for four days in order to purify the body. After four days, each family member eats a spoonful of cooked bananas with salt and sugar to break this fast. Dress Since roughly the 1960s, Ngäbe women have worn full-length, short-sleeve dresses called "naguas". They extend from the neck to the ankles. It is widely believed that the dresses were introduced by Catholic missionaries for modesty's sake, as the Ngäbe traditionally wore loincloths and little else. The dresses are usually adorned with geometric patterns at the sleeve and neck lines, the waist, and at the bottom of the skirt. The classic Ngäbe geometric pattern is called "pintura" (paint), or "dientes" (teeth), and is said to represent mountains, animal teeth, the ripples of the river, or dragon scales. Men typically wear collared cotton-and-polyester-blend shirts and polyester trousers. Some men wear farmer's hats made out of pita leaves, but most wear baseball caps adopted from urban residents. For most of the year, both genders wear "chancletas" (sandals) or rubber boots when moving about, due to Panama's heavy rainfall and the lack of infrastructure in the Comarca. Religion Spanish missionaries introduced Roman Catholicism in the early 1600s. Since the late 19th century, Protestant, Mormon and Evangelical missionaries of various types have also worked among the people. While the people are predominately Catholic, some Ngäbe have since adopted various forms of protestant Christian views, including: Jehovah's Witnesses Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) Church of Christ Cuerpo de Cristo Methodism Evangelical Seventh Day Adventism The British Methodist Church established a mission field among the Guaymi Indians about 1926-27, under the leadership of the Rev. Ephraim S. Alphonse (1896-1995). Born locally on the island of Carenero, in Bocas del Toro Province, he was the son of John Alphonse, from Martinique, and Carlotha Reid, a native of Bluefields, Nicaragua. Both parents were of African descent. Alphonse first worked in the area as an engineer, but became increasingly interested in the Guaymi people. He lived, worked and raised his own family among the Valiente people on the Cusapin Peninsula. Working with them to learn the language, he devised a written form and translated the four Gospels of the New Testament and many hymns into the Guaymi dialect. He created a Guaymi Grammar and developed a dictionary in Guaymi, Spanish and English. These were later printed by