I read recently that a fierce dispute has broken out between two islands in the Canaries over their ancient whistling language. La Gomera’s whistling language, which enabled shepherds to communicate across its volcanic canyons long before the invention of the mobile phone, was recognised by Unesco in 2009.
The neighbouring island of El Hierro wants a similar status for its own whistling language but the people of La Gomera say it’s a mere derivative of its own and should not be granted official recognition.
This dispute would probably have gone over my head but for the fact while on a trip to Tenerife with my wife Gaye, we were advised to visit the island of La Gomera, one of the smaller islands in the Canary group.
Christopher Columbus had stayed there on one of his many expeditions and we thought it would be worth going for a look. So, we did.
We began with spin on a ferry. That took about an hour and when we arrived on the island, we took a coach tour. I don’t normally like organised tours, I prefer to do my own thing, but we went anyway.
La Gomera is one of Spain’s Canary Islands with a population of only 22,000 people. It is the second smallest of the seven main islands in this group, and on a clear day you can see Morocco.
The island is full of mountains, hills and valleys and once you leave the port and start to head inland, you can see all these isolated houses dotted throughout the valleys with terraces cut into the hills where they grow their fruit and vegetables.
It is pretty remote and some of these homes don’t even have electricity, but they do have something unique and wonderful.
They have the Silbo Gomero, a whistling language that has been used on the island of La Gomera for as long as anyone can remember. It is an articulate language used to communicate over long distances and is much more effective than shouting. According to our guide, this language is now a compulsory subject in schools on the island.
The whistles can be distinguished according to pitch and whether they are interrupted or continuous. When they tell you beforehand what they are about to say, and then they whistle it, you can almost hear the words in the whistling.
It’s very technical stuff but with practice, whistlers can hold a proper conversation. The sound can travel up to 3.2km, which is much further, and requires less effort, than roaring your head off.
Being able to whistle wasn’t just a matter of pleasure, it was an obligation, a necessity. If you couldn’t do it, then the alternative was to face a difficult trek through thick undergrowth just to tell Anita to bring in the washing before the rain came.
Because the houses are so far removed from each other, whistling was a much better option than walking.
The language is now under the protection of UNESCO, being recognized as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. There are some other whistling languages in the world too and they can be found on the Greek island of Evia, in the town of Kuskoy, eastern Turkey, in the French Pyrenees and in some parts of Africa. Maybe on some building sites in Ireland too.
But the whistling language of La Gomera is the only one that has been studied so extensively. It is being used by the largest community of speakers and is possibly the only one that is learned in school as an actual subject.
Whistling began to decline in the 1960s, when economic difficulties forced locals to emigrate, mainly to neighbouring Tenerife. The growing road network and later, the development of the mobile phone, deprived Silbo of its practical function. By the 1970s and 80s, there were only a few whistlers left.
The Silbo Gomero has been passed on, from one generation to another for centuries, usually within the family. Now it is done through formal education in the schools of La Gomera, due to measures taken by the Government of the Canary Islands.
Today, the Silbo is mostly heard in schools and in the restaurants that provide whistling demonstrations for tourists. It is crucial to the island’s tourism industry and we were treated to one of these demonstrations by two members of staff when we stopped for lunch.
One staff member took various items from some of the tourists and swopped them around and gave them to other diners. When he was finished, he called the other staff member into the dining room and he then gave instructions to her by whistling.
It was very impressive, and he seemed to be able to explain what each item was and who the real owner was. She located the various items and returned them to the original owners.
It was a good show and everyone enjoyed it, but it’s not all sweetness and light. Some of the whistlers are in competition with each other for the attention of tourists, and some have even fallen out and are no longer on speaking terms. Or maybe whistling terms would be more appropriate.
But it is also true that there are many whistlers on the island willing to share their stories with anyone who wants to listen.
Officially, they say that the Silbo Gomero is understood by almost all islanders and practised by the vast majority, particularly the elderly and the young. It is also used during festivities, ceremonies and religious occasions.
Maybe that’s true and it would be a terrible loss if it was to disappear. Having said that, the only place I heard any evidence of the whistling language was in the restaurant for the tourists but maybe it is more widely used.