The ID card from the Miskito Indian Contras was a bit of a joke, and a reminder of some of the youthful silliness that goes with working on a very serious issue while still in your twenties. The leader of YATAMA -- "Blass" -- was a friend of mine and he offered to make me the card. I had a few extra passport photos on hand. Thus I became "a card carrying Contra," with "Comandante" rank!
When he gave me the card, Blass explained that Tahplu means "bad tempered warrior." There seems to be a couple of different spellings for the word -- Taplu or Tahplu. The "taplu" entry in my Miskito-Spanish dictionary captures Blass's meaning:
Just before I left Central America, Blass gave me this carving, depicting Miskito fishermen in one of their dugout canoes:
Here is the improvised plaque that goes with the carving. I have indeed displayed it in all of my offices.
In my book "Contra Cross" I have a chapter on our work with the Miskito Indians.
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