Guanche

The Guanche were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa. Before and during the early period of Spanish contact, several distinct communities lived on the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote.

Most scholars regard them as descendants of North African Berber populations who migrated to the islands in successive waves, possibly beginning in the first millennium BCE. The Guanche language is extinct; it is generally classified as part of the Berber branch, with limited documentation and no living dialect. Some loanwords survived in Canarian Spanish.

Society was organized around island-specific groups; on Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and other islands, local rulers known as menceyes governed. The economy relied on pastoralism, sheep and goat herding, agriculture, and trade within the archipelago. They built villages in caves and rock shelters, practiced pottery and weaving, and produced stone and bone tools.

Religious beliefs were polytheistic and centered on nature and ancestry. A supreme creator deity, and other deities associated with natural forces, were venerated. Rituals included offerings and mortuary practices such as mummification; some Guanche mummies have been found in caves.

The arrival of Castilian forces in the 15th century led to the rapid conquest of the islands, the disruption of Guanche society, and a drastic population decline from warfare and disease. Survivors were assimilated into colonial society, and the Guanche language disappeared as a spoken language.

Today, Guanche heritage persists in archaeology, toponyms, and the genetic makeup of Canary Islanders. The term Guanche is used to describe the pre-Hispanic indigenous populations of the archipelago.