![]() As Silbo Gomero was mostly used between local livestock holders, when they left the island, the whistling left with them too." "However – during the 1960 and '70s, most agricultural land was abandoned and many of the workers had left the island. Because of this, so many whistling conversations were happening at the same time, and we would have to wait our turn," Darias said. "It was difficult terrain to work on – nobody wanted to climb up and down the ravines to pass on a message. In the 1950s, Silbo Gomero was used so frequently that there was often a scattered queue of farmers waiting to send instructions across the valleys. "It saved a lot of climbing," said Darias. From atop the ravines, the locals would announce events, request livestock be brought over, warn of impending danger, or even announce the death of a family member. Silbo Gomero lent itself to La Gomera's demanding terrain – namely its deep ravines – allowing the locals to communicate with a drifting, piercing sound that could travel for several kilometres. La Gomera's specific whistle found its way to other Canary Islands during the three-year Spanish conquest – it even later followed emigrating Gomeros to South America – but it only survived in one other island in the Canaries: El Hierro, where, according to Santana, the whistle is still occasionally used among elderly residents. These indigenous people roamed North African regions more than 3,000 years ago and communicated by whistle it's therefore widely believed that the Spanish settlers on the island adapted the whistling language of La Gomera's early inhabitants to suit their native tongue. ![]()
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