Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – Español – English
Tamazgha, the land of the Amazigh, extends from the Siwa Oasis, in the Egyptian desert, to the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. The Guanche, Amazigh of the Canary Islands, lived on these islands for thousands of years, until their conquest by Spain, in the 15th Century. As Islam never crossed the ocean, they are the only Amazigh who have never been Muslim.
Origins
Before the arrival of the first humans, these islands were inhabited by giant animals that could be found nowhere else in the world: giant rats, lizards, and turtles. Those animals were probably eradicated by man.
The first inhabitants of the Canary Islands appeared around 8.000 years ago, at the beginning of desertification in the Sahara. They probably crossed the ocean on small boats, first to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the islands closest to the continent, then to the other islands. They settled mostly on the coasts, living in natural caves and living on fishing, hunting and agriculture. It is possible that they originally didn’t stay on the islands permanently, but only came there seasonally.
All that we know about the first inhabitants of the Canary Islands indicates that their culture was very close to the culture of the continental Amazigh. Thousands of writings in the Libyc alphabet, that evolved into Tifinagh, have also be found on each of the islands.
First contacts with the Mediterranean civilisations
The Canary Islands were known to the civilisations of the Mediterranean basin since Antiquity. The Greeks called them the Fortunate Isles; in Greek mythology, they are known as a winterless earthly paradise where those who lived a virtuous life remain forever after they die.
The Canary Islands were probably visited by the Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator, and then by the Greek explorer Euthymenes of Massalia. It is unknown whether the Carthaginians entertained regular contacts with the islands’ inhabitants.
In the 1st Century BCE, King Juba II of Mauretania organised an expedition to explore the Canary Islands, from the port of Mogador (Essaouira). He found the islands uninhabited (maybe because there had never been a permanent population before this time, but only seasonal visitors). However, he found remnants of man-made buildings.
The Romans were the first to give a name to each of the Canary Islands : Ninguaria or Nivaria (Tenerife), Canaria (Gran Canaria), Pluvialia (Lanzarote), Ombrion (La Palma), Planasia (Fuerteventura), Junonia (El Hierro) and Capraria (La Gomera). The islands were not part of the Roman Empire, but the Romans had trade relations with its inhabitants.
Later on, the inhabitants of the Canary Islands also had contacts with the Arabs, and with Spanish seafarers from the Baleares.
The Amazigh of the Canary Islands
Guanche – Guan Achinet (people of Tenerife) in the local language – was originally the name of the inhabitants of the island of Tenerife. Today, it is used for the indigenous populations of all the Canary Islands.
Their language was related to the Amazigh languages of the continent. Remnants of it can still be found in place names, as well as in certain Spanish expressions used in the islands.
Their religion was also similar to the traditional religion of the continental Amazigh. They believed in a supreme god, who was called by different names in each island, and also worshiped the sun, the moon, the stars, and the spirits of the mountains. They mummified their dead, and practiced animal and human sacrifices.
An originally guanche custom, that can still be found today on the island of La Gomera, is silbo, a whistled language, that allows to communicate messages over several kilometers through whistling.
The Spanish conquest
The inhabitants of the Canary Islands lived in relative isolation until the 15th Century.
In 1402, the French explorers Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle first invaded Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, and then the other islands. Their motivation was mostly economical: the Canary Islands had abundant dye for the textile industry.
In 1418, the Béthencourt family sold its rights on the Canary Islands to the Spanish nobleman Enrique Pérez de Guzmán. In 1477, those rights would finally be transferred to the king of Spain.
The Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands, from 1478 to 1496, was extremely violent: the indigenous people were massacred, deported, and sold into slavery, and their culture was totally eradicated. Some historians even consider this episode as the first European colonial genocide. The tactics employed during the conquest of the Canary Islands would later serve as model for the Spanish conquests in America.
Nowadays, the Guanche language and culture have disappeared, even though some expressions and customs were adopted by the Canary Islands Spaniards.
