Who are the ‘Guanches’ and where did they come from?
The many theories on where the ‘Guanches’ actually came from seem to be myths themselves. There is little information on how the first people arrived on the islands and as there as are no finds of ships or other watercrafts, scholars believe that mostly likely the Guanches were not a tribe of spirited navigators. Many anthropologists, among them the German anthropologists Ilse Schwidetzky stated that the Canaries offered a very extensive field for anthropological studies because of the still highly debated mystery of the origin of the Canary people (1963: 9).
Many comparisons were made between the pre-colonial people of the Canaries and the North-African population of that time, not only because of the similarities concerning physical properties of the people but also because of the striking similarities in the cultural customs and practices of the ancient people of the Islands. But there was still a debate about the physical appearance of the ‘Guanches’ because of the statements of the French naturalists and ethnologists Phillip Barker Webb and Sabin Berthelot, who lived on the islands in the mid 19th century and described the ‘Guanches’ as “tall, blonde and blue-eyed and people of great beauty” which varies considerably from the findings of Schwidetzky at the end of the 20th century.
Schwidetzky found various mummies - and already back then anthropologists knew that the ‘Guanches’ used many different methods for mummification- which showed that there were also numerous dark haired and brown-eyed ‘Guanches’ living on the islands. So it still remained a mystery where the ‘Guanches’ actually came from and from which culture they originated. (1963: 12ff).
There are even suggestions that the Canaries are remains of the sunken Atlantis (needless to say without sufficient eveidence).
Figure: ‘Nobles’ Prehistoria y Edad Antigua
en Canarias
According to Schwidetzky this question should not be debated any further because she anyway differentiated between at least two different demographic groups (and among her many anthropologist), namely the Cro-Magnon type of the ‘Guanches’ with round shapes heads and the other group of Semitic-type people with elongated skulls supposedly deriving from the eastern Mediterranean region. Both types can still be found in the Canary Islands.
Some say that certain political interests have led to the refusal of a Berber origin of the native people of the Canaries in order to prevent possible claims emanating from Morocco. But honestly, I for my part do not see any danger or chance for a claim for the territory because the possible antecedents of the Moroccan Berbers and Algerians who immigrated to Canary Islands and most probably arrived at the islands quite some time before the birth of Christ, a time when the boundaries and political classification for countries such as Spain or Algeria or Morocco did not even exist (1963: 70).
But it was not only the physical difference between the two groups of people living on the islands which led the first Europeans, who solemnly ‘re-discovered’ the islands calling them ‘Fortunate Islands’ observed the ‘Guanches’ with a strong feeling of estrangement, it was also the art and the ways of building their homes and villages which differed considerably.
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Moreover, the name ‘Guanches’ is a result of mistranslation or rather over-generalisation because the name ‘Wa n Chinet’ means ‘a person from Chinet’ which is actually an abbreviation of the word “Guanchinerfe” or "Guan-Achinech" which simply means ‘white mountain’ in the language of the Guanches and therefore means “people of Tenerife”. So, if one wants to address e.g. the ancient people of the Gran Canaria they should rather refer to the ‘Canarii’ or when addressing people of Gomera they called ‘Gomeros’ (see box below).
(see E.A. Hooton: The ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands)
Social life, family structure and customs of the Guanches
The Guanches had a well-developed social order. The tribes were strictly organized into kings or chiefs of the tribes which were given different names on the particular islands (Hooton, 1925: 19). At the island of Tenerife the king was called ‘mencey’ whereas on Gran Canaria he was called ‘guanarteme’. The tribes performed ceremonies to designate the king on a council place called ‘tagaror’ which consisted of evenly distributed spiral stone circles.
Their kingdoms (= menceyatos) were widespread and sometimes even extended from down the cost up to the hillsides of the mountain tops. As they domesticated animals such as sheep, pigs and goats this was their main source of food but the tribes in the north also cultivated agriculture. Depending on which area of the islands they lived in they grew crops(irichen), peas (hacichey) and barley (taro) in addition to the animals.
They also had a system of military force in which the warriors (guanartemes) armed themselves with lances which they called ‘banot’ (1925: 38).
The Guanches were very talented warriors what they proved in fierce battles when the first Spanish conquerors arrived at the islands in 1494 for the first time. Although they produced clothes out of goat and sheep skins, the warriors went naked to hunt or fight. There were different types of clothes depending on the class and activity as for example the heads of the tribes were the only ones who were allowed to wear full leather trousers called ‘guaycas’.
The ones from the lower classes -the so called ‘trasquilados’- were indicated by a wearing a short haircut and different types of clothing and never had the chance to become a king or ‚noble’. However, this rule only applied to men because although the society of the Guanches was a patriarchal system the women played a very important role in the tribes.
It was not possible for a man to speak to a woman when he found her on her own because it was a taboo to speak to a woman except for she allowed him to talk. There are various examples of famous ‘queens’ of tribes as for example a women called ‘Atidama’ of the tribe of Gran Canaria or ‘Guacimara’ of Tenerife(1925: 75). An example of the worth of women within the tribes it is told that when the Spanish conquerors arrived at the islands the tribes surrendered by handing over the daughter of the king to the Spanish troops (as a sign of total capitulation).
Women were the ones who represented the power of the tribes as well as they were fighting side by side with the warriors of their people. There are also legends which tell that the women of a certain tribe on the Island of La Palma did not want to surrender and rather committed suicide by throwing themselves from the cliffs instead of being captured by the Spanish conquerors.
Nevertheless, there are also accounts of a rather submissive role of women (especially in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) namely in times of overpopulation female babies were killed except the girl was born as the first child of the family. This accounts reminded me strongly of what we heard about the status of females (esp. babies) in the stories of Lévi-Strauss’ Tristes Tropiques. However, women had another important role.
They were responsible for the tribe’s diet. With They collected food such as ferns, fruits and nuts (mocán and toyas) as well as they worked at the fields harvesting the wheat, barley and broad beans.
With manufactured tools the men prepared the soil so that the women could plant new seed as they were representing fertility. As women were responsible for the preparing the food, men has the role of shepherds in which they developed amazing skills over the centuries. To guide the sheep and goats properly over the mountain the Guanches even developed sharp knives called ‘tabona’ which was a highly useful tool made of wood and volcanic glass (obsidian).
The pottery the ‘Guanches’ produced are just another similarity to the cultures of Brazil and South America Lévi-Strauss analyzed, but I will come back to this and show a few example of the ceramic art of the ‘Guanches’ a little later in this paper.
The Myths of the Guanches: Do they still exist?
Lévi-Strauss advanced the theory all human culture as a coherent, logical and interlinking symbolic system especially concerning mythology, kinship and religion. If I understood it the main message of structuralism correctly then I learned that with help of this intellectual movement you can find out what kind of universal thought patterns there are as well as finding connections of binary opposition.
One of those oppositions is the differentiation between nature and culture. Lévi-Strauss suggests that myths are autonomous in the minds of the people and they can therefore be transformed in various forms but they can never escape from the form of being a myth. According to Schwimmer (as stated in the CCLS) myths are only meant as a means of imparting moral knowledge in all of life's circumstances.
Lévi-Strauss proposed that the myths of South and North American natives represent and therefore transport important moral values, related to the real lives of the people. I wrote in my critical essay that I wonder why and when Europeans have lost their myths and accompanying closeness to nature; herby I want to withdraw this statement because when writing this paper I found out that there are Europeans who still live the myths their parents/grandparents told them and they still act according to them.
Origin of the Islands
The Guanches believed that inside the volcano Teide once there lived a demon, called ‘Guayola’. He was the God of the Evil and because he was jealous on ‘Magec’, the God of Sun and Light he decided to kidnapped him so took him to the interior of the volcano. This was a time in which the island were still connected to each other and forming a whole continent but because of the loss of the God of Light the work sank into darkness.
So, the Guanches asked their superior of all Gods, Achamán the God of the Sky to help Magec and help him out of the inside of the Echeyde (=volcano, hell). Besides they asked him whether he can seal the crater because they were afraid of the revenge of Guayola (because they believed that he would return in form of a dog with red shining eyes and take the children of the Guanches).
Achamán defeated Guayola and used the last snow of the Teide (Pan de azucar =sugar Bread) to trap in Guayola (according to the legend this is why you can see the white top of Teide today). After closing the volcano there was a massive earthquake which divided the continent into the 7 islands which where from then on called: Tyterogaka (Lanzarote), Erbane (Fuerteventura), Tamarán (Gran Canaria), Achined (Tenerife), Gomera (La Gomera), Benahoare (La Palma) and Ezeró (El Hierro). (Lissner, 1962:191)
When I asked what this meant he told me that the Gods wanted the people from the islands to protect nature and to look after earth. I thought it was a justified question to ask which Gods he meant, so he told me that of course! the God of Nature would become angry. This was when he told me this story.
The origin of the people
First of all there was Achamán (the superior God of the Sky) he was a powerful, everlasting but very self-sufficient God. Before he existed there was just emptiness, the sea did not reflect the sky and the light had no colours. He wanted to have someone to care about so he created the earth, the water, fire and the air and all the life on earth (plants, animals etc.). Achamán lived in the sky and sometimes (when he was bored) he went high up to the mountaintops to enjoy the view, what made him happy.
One day he stopped on the top of Echeyde (the volcano Teide). From this mountain/volcano he could perfectly see what he had created and it seemed so beautiful and perfect that he decided to create humans so that they also can admire and appreciate what his work and in told them that they were allowed to live in these beautiful island(s) only if they promise to protect and care about what he created.
Another practical application of an ancient legend I encountered when I spent some time on Gran Canaria and attended my first traditional ‘fiestas’ of which I did not really know what exactly the people were celebrating. When I asked my friends where this customs came from the only answer I got was “because it is part of our tradition”. After this I did not really think about this fiesta anymore but after doing some research and knowing about texts of Lévi-Strauss I now see culture through different eyes.
I wondered that the people on Gomera know the old stories so well but on Gran Canaria many traditional rituals which the people who live on the island today take for granted and do not question their meaning. I now found out that the party we were celebrating was the ’Fiesta Del Charco’ also called (Festival of the Lagoon) which is an ancient tradition of the ‘Guanches’ and served as a means of ‘inner cleansing’.
Today people celebrate this fiesta as a form of thanksgiving party on which the patron saint of San Nicolás de Tolentino were go into the lagoon-fully dressed and try to catch fish, which San inevitable lead to at the end of the party everyone being all wet and covered in mud. Unfortunately I was not able to find out whether the ‘Guanches’ also practiced this like the people to it now- basically a mud bath and if I wonder whether this could have had a similar meaning to the ‘Guanches’ as mud had for the cultures analyzed in The Story of Lynx.
He explained to me that his mother told this story when he once broke his leg when he was a little boy which was the story about ‘La Virgen de la Candelaria’ who appeared at Tenerife in form of a stone figure carrying a little boy (= Jesus). The story tells that in former times the people of the islands still believed in their Gods of nature which were(as mentioned above) the God of the Sun (Magec), the Sky (Achaman) the Devil/or Evil (Guayota) and a female Goddess called Chaxiraxi, who was in charge of the Earth.
He was told that once a boy from the island was captured by the Spanish colonists and brought to Spain, but soon he could escape and so he came back home. When he arrived at the house of his father, who was the ‘guaire’- the headman of the village- he saw the stone sculpture and explained that the Spaniards called this women ‘Virgin Mary’. At first they viewed critically at the sculpture but soon they found out that everybody who was ill or injured and touched the stone figure was cured in an instant and from then on they believed in Virgin Mary being their Goddess.
So, this is also one of the myths of the ‘Guanches’ which from a historical point of view was one of the reasons why the they did put up hardly any resistance when the Spanish colonialists came to the islands and persuaded them to convert to Christianity. Comparing this story to what Peter Gow wrote in his article “Of the Story of Lynx: Lévi-Strauss and alterity” in the Cambridge Companion shows striking similarities.
Except for the difference that the story Pedro Manuma Fumachi from Peru tells is that Jesus passed by and punished the ‘’bad, elder sister’ because she did not help he clean him cleaning (mud again!) and rewarded the ‘good, younger sister’ by choosing her as the Virgin. So, obviously both tribes, the one of Pedro Manuyama who is a descendant from the Cocamas and the myth of the Virgin Mary in the story of the descendants of the ‘Guanches’ the stories which were told promised in one way or the other a form of healing or reward when the people surrendered to the Spanish missionaries.
If you cut the bark of the trees some resin is dripping off the bark which builds sticky rubbery mass. After a couple of days the colour of the resin changes into blood red, so that the ‘Guanches’ called it ‘dragon blood’. The ‘Guanches’ used it his as rubber but it also served as medicine to cure injuries such as fractures as well as they used it to mummify their dead.
In the middle ages this dragon blood was paid in gold because the Spanish conqueror soon recognised its medical effect. This resign was used almost universally which you can see when you have a look at numerous houses because still existing at the Canaries because people use it to preserve the wood of their houses which has a dark reddish colour because of the ‘dragon blood’.
The ‘Guanches’ also used these trees for their traditional meetings and considered the places on which the trees were as a holy places on which they prayed and sacrificed.
Another similarity to what I have read from Lévi-Strauss and the lives of the ‘Guanches’ I found in the tattoos of the people living on the Canary Islands. Similar to the motives of the ‘Caduevos’ analyzed in Tristes Tropiques the ‘Guanches’ used so called ‘pintaderas’ to decorate their pottery as well as they used it as ‘sellos’(stamps) to paint their bodies. These pintaderas were also in forms of fractals which can be found not only in the decorative styles of the Caduevas and the painting of pottery of the ‘Guanches’ but also everywhere in nature (as we have seen in the ‘broccoli picture’ in class).
But it is not only the body painting but also the art which shares striking similarities. Although the people of Brazil and the Guanches of the Canary Islands do not seem to be somehow connected the pottery of their indigenous people looks very similar.
Used literature and further reading:
Calvet, Carlos (2007):Geschichte und Mythen der Kanaren. Leipzig: Bohmeier Verlag Innis
Robert E. (1985): Semiotics: An Introductory Anthology. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press
Concepción, José Luis (2006): The Guanches survivors and their descendants. España: José Luis Concepción
Hooton, Earnest Albert (1925): The ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands. Peabody Museum of Harvard University
Lissner, Ivar (1963): The silent past: mysterious and forgotten cultures of the world. London
Walter Lévi‐Strauss, Claude (1996): The Story of Lynx. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press
Lévi‐Strauss, Claude (1966): Tristes Tropiques. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press
The Cambridge Companion To Lévi Strauss (2009): Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Williams, Christian (2001): The rough guide to Tenerife: including La Gomera. New York: Rough Guides
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