Tagua, or vegetable ivory, is a type of palm tree, native to the Darien rainforests of Panama close to the Columbian border. Like the coconut, the dark brown seeds of the Tagua tree begin as soft, edible flesh. As the fruit matures, it remains as white as ivory and turns hard as stone. The Wounaan people have developed a fine art of carving the hard seed into magnificent figurines and jewelry, using only the simplest manual tools of knives, chisels, dyes and sandpaper. Through their art, they have developed an appreciation of the importance of sustaining and protecting their natural rainforest habitat, as well as the value of their age-old artistic cultural traditions.

Sebedo Piraza Mejía grew up in a small indigenous Wounaan community of wood carvers and basket weavers, moving to Panama City to continue his high school education, which he supported through the sale of his tagua sculptures. For the past 10 years, Sebedo has worked with the National Congress of the Wounaan people as a governmental liaison promoting the arts and culture of his community.