Spain now had a new enemy in the new world. But with their empire stretching out thin all across the Americas, they couldn't possibly strike the jungle people with military might. They needed a better weapon - missionaries.

By the middle of the seventeenth century, Dominican missionaries had made in-roads with the Kuna. Still, they refused to convert, which frustrated the Crown. The Spanish decided to replace the missionaries with soldiers and colonists. This continued to drive the Kuna against the Spanish. More rebel attacks staged from the jungles, more alliances with pirates like Henry Morgan. It served their own purposes at keeping the Spanish at bay.

Missionaries kept trying to ply their way into Kuna society. The Kuna would eventually accept some French missionaries, but once again the outside world struck, this time in the form of European diseases. Once again, the Kuna expelled the settlers, creating strict customs against marrying outsiders, and even going so far as launching raids against Panama City.

By the end of the eighteenth century, the Kuna allied themselves again. This time with the British of Jamaica, who were still warring and pirateering against the Spanish. More bloodshed, and the Kuna kept moving toward the coast, both to gain access to trade with outsiders, and as a safety buffer from the outside world. They were slowly becoming acquainted with trade; they were becoming worldly and market-oriented. They began trading turtle shells and coconuts, often with the Colombians.