History of the Canarian aborigines

Image: Bilenio Publications

Prior to the conquest of the Canary Islands, they were inhabited by a number of aboriginal groups of different ethnicities, although the predominant one was undoubtedly that of berber origin, given the proximity to the African coasts. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about the Canarian aboriginal history, which have left us a rich culture lethargic because, during the conquest, they were being exterminated, since they put up great resistance to the invasion of the islands.

Index

1. When were the Canaries colonized?
2. Were there several groups in the Canary Islands?
3. The social organization of the Canarian aborigines
4. What was the culture like?
5. Where did the Canarian aborigines used to live?

We begin the history of the Canarian aborigines, from S V a. C. moment at which it seems that the first aborigines from North Africa to the Canaries.

Many of the theories today affirm that, possibly, this expansion was carried out thanks to the Phoenician or Punic culture, because these had

It is said that the first occupants of these must have been Berbers, since the oldest known writings have common traits with Algerian or Libyan writing, in addition to genetic studies that show that they have traits common to the populations of these places.

Image: Government of the Canary Islands

Although the Canarian aborigines have always been known as guanchesThese are just a group of several of those who inhabited the islands.

For this reason, within the history of the Canarian aborigines we will stop to mention the major groups who inhabited the islands:

• Tenerife: it will be on this island where the famous people lived guanches, name with which the Canarian aborigines have been known for many years, because it was the most abundant number.
• Lanzarote and Fuerteventura: in these islands the group that inhabited them were the nice.
• La Gomera: it was inhabited by a group called the gomeritas.
• The iron: inhabited by bimbaches.
• Gran Canaria: location where we will find the canaries.
• The Palm: inhabited by auaritas.

Even having different groups, the hierarchy or organization was the same in all of them, therefore, we will not differentiate between those mentioned above. We have to know whate was a society of patriarchal origin, that is to say, the head of the family was the man, although the mother had something of importance since, in addition, the society was matrilineal.

In turn, wealth was very important to these societies, since tribal cultures gave great importance to the heads of cattle, especially, and in the case of the Canarian aborigines it was So. So we can say that society was divided into:

• Achimencey: noble (related to the king's kinship, since the name comes from the word mencey, which in Tenerife was how the king was defined).
• Cichiciquitzo: soldier.
• Achinaxna: villain.

All the groups had a kind of king who was to lead the entire island. This was divided into four parts and in each of them there was a kind of leader who had to send certain tributes to the king.

Image: Further South - blogger

Continuing with the lesson on the history of the Canarian aborigines, we must know that, being tribal societies, they had a religion based on the worship of the stars, possessing a series of sanctuaries, aligned with the stars, the sun or the moon, among other elements of the solar system.

In addition, they were in certain places, since they were also in tune with nature. This, therefore, would allow them to use a series of own calendars that served them to know the periods of the year determined to collect or plant food or periods to hunt or allow the procreation of the species that coexisted with them on the islands.

On the other hand, according to the chronicles of the Castilian conquerors, it is known that they did not use navigation, given that they lacked the technology to do so, or because they did not need to interact with other groups or move to other areas to reach resources.

To finish with the history of the Canarian aborigines, we will focus on the settlements that they used for their way of life. In most cases the archaeological sites that we find are caves or the so-called volcanic tubes, places that were sheltered from the weather of the islands, in addition to having more security over the rest of the animals that were there.

Although remains of settlements with stone housesThese used to be located near even the caves, thus being able to be a differentiating element between some classes and others.

Being an economy based mainly on the hunting and gathering, we will find a kind of cubicles where cattle were stored at night to prevent them from predators will end up with some head of cattle, the sheep and goat being the herds for excellence. Everything from these animals was used, from meat, milk, skin and even bones. Likewise, they also carried out the collection of wild fruits and carried out the activity of hunting both birds, reptiles and fish.

Some of the groups, such as the Guanches and the Canaries, they managed to carry out agriculture fruitfully, with wheat, barley and peas being the most important elements.

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