The pita plant, Aechmea magdalenae, is a non-timber forest product used among the Ngöbe women of Chalite, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Ngöbe women harvest fiber from this plant, dye this fiber and make hammocks, fishing nets, ropes and bags called kra. This study uses the methods of participant observation and unstructured, informal interviews to define the use of the plant in this village and to determine a change in the use of the pita plant in recent years. Results indicate that some women have lost the knowledge of extraction, dying and fashioning of bags while others have improved upon these techniques. Improved techniques have emerged because women hope to sell bags as artisan works to tourists. However, constraints in transportation, competition, and few market outlets make selling to tourists difficult. The separation in the village of women who fashion kra and those who do not has created a local market for pita fiber and the bags used in daily work activities.