Tenerife and the White Indians of Navaria

RAINBOW TENERIFE and THE WHITE INDIANS OF NIVARIA
by tatiana sunsister



THIS IS A STORY FROM THE TENERIFE GATHERING AND THE YEAR WAS IN THE EARLY 1990'S, BUT THEY HAD SO MANY IT'S HARD TO SAY WHICH YEAR IT WAS AND MANY OF THEM WERE NEAR THESE BEACHES BELOW THE ANAGA MOUNTAINS AND STILL ARE. WE CAME FROM ALL PARTS OF THE PLANET, ROLLING IN ON MAGIC BUSES DOWN THE WINDING FORESTED CANYON RAINBOW ROADS IN THE ANAGA MOUNTAINS, COASTING TO THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC SHORES OF NIVARIA. WHEN AT LAST DEEP BLUE WATERS CAME INTO VIEW WE ALL KNEW THAT SOMEONE HAD SELECTED A BEAUTIFUL SPOT FOR A GATHERING. I TOOK OFF MY THREADS AND DOVE HEADFIRST INTO THE AQUAMARINE WATERS ON THIS AWESOME NORTH SHORE COVE. I LOOKED BACK TOWARDS THE BEACH AND AS THE CRESTING LIP OF A THIN WAVE BROKE OVER MY HEAD THEN CLOSED ITSELF IN FRONT OF MY FACE .....IT WAS AS IF I WAS LOOKING THROUGH AN AQUATIC WINDOW PANE AND SEEING THE JAGGED GREEN PEAKS ABOVE THE BEACH WITH THEIR DEEP PALM-FILLED BARANCAS AND YAWNING CLIFF-SIDE CAVES. WAVE AFTER SLOW-MOTION WAVE REPEATED THIS PRISM-LIKE VIEW IN A MAGICAL ALMOST HALLUCINOGENIC DISPLAY. THE WARM WATER AND SUNSHINE, BLUE SKIES, OFF-SHORE WINDS AND THE EBB AND FLOW OF MOTHER OCEAN SMASHING HER FORCE AGAINST SOME FORGOTTEN ISLAND ONCE KNOWN AS NIVARIA TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS, BUT NOW POPULARLY CALLED TENERIFE, SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN OFF THE COAST OF AFRICA. FARTHER IN THE DISTANCE THE PEAK OF HER 12,000 FOOT VOLCANO WAS COVERED WITH SNOW, BUT THESE TEPID WATERS WERE BATHING ME IN THEIR ANCIENT MEMORIES. THIS WAS THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF AN INDIGENOUS TRIBE KNOWN AS GUANCHES AND WHEN THESE 7 ISLANDS WERE "REDISCOVERED" BY EUROPEANS IN THE MIDDLE AGES THEIR 150,000 INHABITANTS WERE STILL LIVING IN THE STONE AGE. IN 1341 AN ITALIAN ARTIST NAMED BOCCACCIO ON A PORTUGUESE EXPEDITION RECORDED SEEING FOUR HANDSOME YOUNG NATIVES, NAKED ON A GRAN CANARY BEACH...... " THEIR LONG LIGHT HAIR VEILED VEILED THEIR BODIES DOWN TO THE WAIST AND THEY WENT BARE-FOOTED." SO THIS LOST TRIBE OF BLOND INDIOS WERE EUROPEAN LOOKING IN APPEARANCE BUT STRICTLY INDIGENOUS FOR THE LAST 2500 YEARS ON THESE FORGOTTEN ISLANDS, THOUGHT BY COLUMBUS TO BE THE BEGINNING OF THE "INDIES", HENCE THE NAME INDIOS, OR INDIANS IN ENGLISH, FOR THE TRIBES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC. THE ARCHETYPES ARE POWERFUL AND RESONATE DEEP WITHIN ME LIKE SOME MISSING LINK IN MY OWN ABORIGINAL PAST AND HERITAGE, AND THAT'S THE WHOLE REASON I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DRAWN TO RAINBOW. OF ALL THE ATTEMPTS I EVER MADE FOR A VISION QUEST , THIS WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT REALLY WORKED, AND IT OPENED A MULTITUDE OF DOORS FOR ME. I HAVE ALWAYS HONORED THE HOPI, LAKOTA, NAVAJO,ETC......BUT HERE I DISCOVERED SOME OTHER DRUM....I HAD TAPPED INTO AN ANCIENT RAINBOW ARCHETYPE FROM THE MOTHERLAND. I FIRST HEARD OF THE CONCEPT OF "WHITE INDIANS" FROM RAINBOW ELDER ALBERTO RUZ BUENFIL'S 1991 BOOK "RAINBOW NATION: WITHOUT BORDERS", BUT HE DID NOT HAVE ANY PHOTOS OF THEM OR MUCH DESCRIPTIVE TEXT, THOUGH HE HAD LIVED IN THESE ISLANDS AS WELL AS MEXICO, AND WAS BORN OF A MAYAN INDIAN MOTHER, AND HAD MANY AMAZING STORIES TO TELL. BUT SINCE THEN I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY NUMEROUS PICTURES, LEGENDS AND ACTUALLY SEEN MUMMIES IN MUSEUMS ON TENERIFE, AS WELL AS THEIR NATIVE ARTIFACTS, INCLUDING CAVE PAINTINGS OF SUN SYMBOLS THAT LOOK IDENTICAL TO THOSE MADE BY AMERICAN INDIANS IN NEW MEXICO. SO THUS BEGAN MY RAINBOW AWAKENING, AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ODYSSEY AND TRUE STORY OF WHITE NATIVES LIVING PRIMITIVE ON 7 AFRICAN ISLANDS FOR MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS, A FORGOTTEN CHAPTER IN EUROPEAN PRE-HISTORY, THAT REVEALS A RARE WESTERN MODEL ON AN EDEN-LIKE VOLCANIC ARCHIPELAGO, THE CANARY ISLANDS, ONCE INHABITED BY A FEMALE FRIENDLY INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF CAVE-DWELLING CAUCASOIDS. GUANCHE INDIANS MUMMIFIED THEIR DEAD, CONTRUCTED CEREMONIAL PYRAMIDS, AND WERE CUSTODIANS OF AN ANCIENT SPIRITUAL LEGACY AND SOLAR COSMOLOGY THAT LINGERS DEEP WITHIN THE RECESSES OF MY CONSCIOUSNESS. FOR THE FIRST TIME I FELT LIKE I UNCOVERED THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN THE SO-CALLED WHITE-MAN'S WORLD AND ALL OTHER INDIGENOUS TRIBES OF THE EARTH, BE THEY AMER-INDIAN, PACIFIC ISLANDER, AFRICAN,ETC. SCIENTIFIC HIPPIEDOM. I HAD BEEN TO MANY RAINBOW GATHERINGS IN THE STATES, SO I KNEW THAT THE SPIRIT OF RAINBOW WAS A UNIVERSAL VIBE AND THE STRONG CONNECTION RAINBOW FOLKS FEEL WITH NATIVE PEOPLE IS POWERFUL AND ALWAYS HONORED. BUT THIS TRIP TO NAVARIA WAS AN OVERLOAD ON MY THIRD EYE....EAST MEETS WEST, PALM TREES, SWEET PINE FORESTS, VOLCANOS MEET TIDEPOOLS, CACTUS MEETS CLOUDS, DRAGON TREE MEETS FLOWER POWER, EAGLES MEETS SEA TURTLES, AFRICANS MEETS EUROPOIDS, AZTECS MEETS TEUTONS, GREEKS MEETS ROMANS, GUTTER-PUNKS MEETS REGGAE-MARTYRS,TROGLODYTES MEET CORPORATE CRO-MAGNONS, VOLKSWAGONS MEETS BANANA GARDENS, AND NAKED RAINBOW NAVELS MEET EACH OTHER TO PERPETUATE THEIR TRIBE WHERE THE GUANCHE INDIANS LEFT OFF. AS IT TURNS OUT THE HIPPIES HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE CANARY ISLANDS FOR A LONG TIME. ONE LOCAL SURFER FROM SOCORRO, TOLD ME THAT THE FIRST HIPPIE THEY HAD EVER MET ARRIVED IN 1965, A SPANISH TEACHER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IN SANTA CRUZ. HE HAD LONG HAIR AND A SURFBOARD, AND ACCORDING TO JULIAN THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF SURFING AND HIPPIES IN THE CANARY ISLANDS. BY THE END OF THE SIXTIES THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF GERMAN AND ENGLISH HIPPIES WHO HAD LIVED IN CAVES ON ALL 7 ISLANDS, INCLUDING VALLE GRAN REY ON GOMERA ISLAND, JUST LIKE THE GUANCHE INDIANS BEFORE THEM SINCE THE DAWN OF HISTORY, AND THESE CAVES ARE SOME OF THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY INHABITED DWELLINGS IN THE WORLD. THIS WAS THE ONLY RAINBOW GATHERING I'D EVER BEEN TO WHERE I NEVER SET UP A TENT OR A TARP, BECAUSE I SLEPT IN A CAVE EACH NIGHT, AND WHAT'S MORE I SLEPT IN A DIFFERENT CAVE EVERY NIGHT OF THE GATHERING, SOME ON THE SHORE, SOME ON THE CLIFFS, BUT ALWAYS WAKING UP TO THAT INCESSANT ROAR OF BREAKERS ON THE SAND AND THE RESPLENDENT SUNSHINE REPLACING THE SAHARAN M OON. IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE EVERY RAINBOW WAS IN A CAVE SOMEWHERE IN THOSE COASTAL BARRANCAS. THE GUARDIA CIVIL HAD BEEN INFORMED OF OUR HIPPIE FIESTA ON THE ANAGA COASTLINE, BUT THEY NEVER EVEN SHOWED UP. THE CLOSEST THING WE HAD TO ANY EXTERNAL PRESENCE WAS AN OCCASIONAL FISHING BOAT CRUISING BY WITH THE CREW APPLAUDING ALL THE NAKED HIPPIE CHICKS ON THE BEACH. THE RULE IN THE CANARIES SEEMS TO BE THAT IF YOU ARE WILLING TO WALK DOWN TO SOME REMOTE BEACH AT LOW TIDE, EVENTUALLY YOU WILL COME TO A CAVE-FILLED BARRANCA, SOMETIMES WITH WATER FLOWING BUT ALWAYS WITH LOVELY SHORELINE AND MOUNTAINS. WELCOME HOME RAINBOW INDIANS. EUROPEAN GATHERINGS ARE A BIT DIFFERENT FROM THEIR U.S. COUNTERPARTS. FEWER PEOPLE OVERALL, FEWER DOGS, AND THEY TEND TO BE THE FRIENDLY TYPES OF PUPS. EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AS A RULE TAKE BETTER CARE OF THEIR OFF-SPRING, WITH FREE HEALTH CARE, CHEAP EDUCATION, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, ASSISTANCE TO MOTHERS AND SUCH. ALL THE SISTERS AND BROTHERS I MET WERE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO INVITE ME TO THEIR HOME FOR A LONG VISIT, AND THEY ALL HAD MORE TIME TO ENJOY ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. WHILE AMERICANS TEND TO MOVE AROUND MORE AND RELOCATE PERIODICALLY, SOME PEOPLE I MET FROM AUSTRIA, NORWAY, DENMARK AND ENGLAND HAD THE SAME HOME IN THEIR FAMILIES FOR A FEW HUNDRED YEARS. OVERALL THERE SEEMS TO BE FAR FEWER PEOPLE LIVING ON THE STREETS OR LIVING HOMELESS IN EUROPEAN CITIES, AND THE PRESENCE OF GUNS, OVERT VIOLENCE, TELEVISION ADDICTION AND MISTREATMENT OF WOMEN WAS DRAMATICALLY LESS. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS GREAT AND HITCH-HIKING IS SAFER AND EASIER IN MANY PARTS OF EUROPE COMPARED TO AMERICA. I MET ONE ENGLISH FELLOW NAMED ROBERT WHO HAD BACKPACKED ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND HE TOLD ME ABOUT A 6 MONTH LONG SPONTANEOUS RAINBOW GATHERING HE HELPED ORGANIZE. WHILE TREKKING IN ITALY HE BEFRIENDED SOME FELLOW NOMADIC RAINBOW WANDER-VOGELS, SO AS A GROUP OF 4 THEY HIKED THROUGH MANY REMOTE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES AND ONE DAY HAPPENED UPON AN ABANDONED FARM WITH MOST OF THE BUILDINGS IN A STATE OF MINOR RUIN. THEY SET ABOUT REBUILDING THE PLACE, ALL THE WHILE NETWORKING WITH OTHER RAINBOWS WHO ARRIVED FROM NEAR AND FAR. AFTER NOT TOO LONG THEY HAD GARDENS, PIT LATRINES, FIRE CIRCLES, COMPOST AND ENOUGH HABITATIONS TO KEEP 20 DEDICATED FOLKS IN COMFORT FOR HALF A YEAR IN THIS MAGIC RAINBOW VILLAGE. IT WORKED! ON RAINBOW BEACH IN NAVARIA, THE BARTER CIRCLE REMINDED ME OF A BACKDROP FROM THE ENGLISH MOVIE, "ONE MILLION YEARS B.C." STARING RAQUEL WELCH, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY FILMED ON TENERIFE, BOTH ON THE BEACH AND THE VOLCANIC VALLEYS NEAR THE PEAK OF TEIDE, AND INCLUDED HAUNTING PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDTRACK. THE RAINBOWS BARTERED SEASHELLS, ROCKS, WALKING POLES, DATES, BANANAS, DRUMS, ORANGES, BOOKS, MUSIC, SURFBOARDS, FLUTES, AS WELL AS THE REGULAR ASSORTMENT OF CONTEMPORARY HIPPIE ARTIFACTS FROM POST-NEOLITHIC BABYLON. ONE UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT I CAN'T FORGET WAS WHEN A BROTHER NAMED ANTONIO FROM THE FAMED COMMUNE ON MAINLAND SPAIN CALLED BENEFECIO, PLAYED A LOVELY SPANISH RENDITION OF THE PSYCHEDELIC ANTHEM " EL BRILLO DE TU AMOR" (SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE) ON A BOX GUITAR NO LESS. I WISH ERIC CLAPTON COULD HAVE SEEN THAT. THERE WAS A NICE FORE ON THE BEACH AND THE WATER TEMPERATURE IN THE OCEAN FELT ABOUT 70F.(22C), SO THERE WERE NAKED BODIES SWIMMING AND DANCING ALL NIGHT. NOT SINCE THE GUANCHE DAYS HAD TENERIFE SEEN SO MANY LONG-HAIRED BARE BODIES COVERED WITH PAINT AND MUD. SPEAKING OF GUANCHES. ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TENERIFE THERE'S A TOWN CALLED "MATANZA" (MASSACRE) WHICH IS WHAT THE SPANISH CONQUSITADORES OFTEN NAMED A PLACE ONCE THEY HAD WIPED OUT THE LOCAL INDIANS AND THEN BRAGGED ABOUT IT FOREVER, SUCH AS IN CUBA AND MEXICO. BUT ON TENERIFE , AS TOLD BY FRIAR ALONSO ESPINOSA IN 1594; " NEARLY 900 (SPANISH) MEN WERE KILLED AT THE HANDS OF THEIR ENEMIES. THIS WAS THE GREATEST LOSS THAT WAS SUFFERED IN THESE ISLANDS, WHEREBY GOD SAW FIT TO CHASTISE THE HAUGHTINESS AND PRIDE OF THE SPANIARDS, EXCEEDING THAT OF ALL OTHER NATIONS. FOR ONLY 100 GUANCHES, NAKED MEN WITHOUT IRON OR DEFENSIVE ARMS GAVE THEM SUCH AN ASSAULT THAT THEY ABANDONED THEIR CAMP TO THE ASSAILANTS." DON'T FUCK WITH THOSE WHITE INDIANS SENOR CONQUISTADOR. LEAVE PARADISE TO THE CAVE DWELLERS AND THEIR RAINBOW DESCENDENTS. THOSE MEMORIES CAN'T BE DESTROYED, AND ANCIENT NIVARIAN ARCHETYPES ARE IMBEDDED INTO OUR RAINBOW GENETIC CODE. SOMETHING LIKE ONLY 5-8% OF AMERICANS EVEN HAVE A VALID PASSPORT, WHICH IS THE SAME AS SAYING THAT WELL OVER 90% NEVER LEAVE THE U.S., SAVE FOR MILITARY, TOURISM AND BUSINESS TRAVEL. BUT RAINBOW IS SERIOUS BUSINESS TOO SO CHECKING OUT THE MANY OTHER RAINBOW TRIBES IN THE WORLD MAKES FOR A STRONGER SENSE OF SOLIDARITY AND PURPOSE. TENERIFE WAS BY FAR MY ALL TIME FAVORITE RAINBOW GATHERING, FOLLOWED BY THE NEVADA NATIONAL IN 1989 UP IN THE JARBRIDGE WILDERNESS. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION AS THEY OFTEN SAY IN THE PRESSED SOCIETY, BUT HEY, THOSE RAINBOW SCOUTS SOMETIMES GET IT SO RIGHT. THE CANARY ISLANDS HAVE HAD HUNDREDS OF IMPROMPTU REGIONAL GATHERINGS THROUGH THE DECADES ON ALL THEIR ISLANDS, SO GO FIND AN EMPTY CAVE AND OCCUPY TENERIFE AND NEVADA AGAIN SOMEDAY LIKE THE WHITE INDIANS AND CAVE HIPPIES OF THE RAINBOW NATION AND WELCOME HOME TO THE 3,000 YEAR OLD TROGG VILLAGE IN THE MID-ATLANTIC UNDER THE INCANDESCENT AFRICAN SUN. "WE'RE ALL HERE BECAUSE WE'RE NOT ALL THERE.........."

 

why are you yelling?

 

its hard to change copy pasted material from capitals to regular letters

 

Is it OK to say 'white Indian'?

 

No one is really "white", it's just a convenient label. So, I guess it depends on who your talking to.

In this case, part of the story is about indigenous people who lived in the Canary Islands centuries ago and they actually had quite light complexion and light hair, unlike most indigenous people living on tropical or semi-tropical islands.

As far as "white" people identifying as "Indians" that's a good question and like the word gypsy it is probably OK or not OK depending on who your talking to. The author of that story chose the title and I think I understand what she's saying.

Are rainbow people white Indians or reincarnated from native people? According to Hopi Prophecy the Rainbow Family of Living Light is the fulfillment of Hopi Prophecy. This message was conveyed at the first gathering in 1972 in Colorado by a Hopi Elder.
If you believe in reincarnation, then most likely so-called white people, who are very influenced by shamanism and native spirituality, have had previous lives as native people throughout the world in numerous old world indigenous cultures.

That's my take on it.

 

The Island of Tenerife! What a trip! This is a story of rainbow magic on an island off of the northwest coast of Africa. It is considered to be part of Spain, but it is a world unto itself.
There is a boat that leaves once a week from Cadiz in Andalusia in the south of Spain.
Bon Voyage!

 

Is this some sort spot the difference but like level: mega.

 

For non-americans it is

 

Problem is...that's like saying white people never had their own indigenous past... a prehistoric primitive period when they lived in tribal bands and practiced earth religions... Celtic , Teutonic, etc.
Imagine a Hopi Indian going on a spiritual pilgrimage to...say Iceland or Germany, then proclaiming "I can feel the spiritual connection and know I was a whitey in my past life". The Hopi doesn't have anything to be ashamed of, no racial guilt, no shame about his religion, language or culture. But most European descendants are conditioned to believe they come from bad blood so they are usually seeking spiritual wisdom from any place but Europe, or fantacize about "past lives".
And yea, look around at any Rainbow Gathering...mostly dis-inherited white kids who have no connection with their European roots, so instead they substitute something Navajo, Rasta, Hindu, Polynesian, Mayan, etc. The reincarnation cop-out is just another guilt trip or identity disorder.
The White Indians who lived in the Canary Islands are the closest thing to a proto-Rainbow Family that actually did live indigenous, with their own religion, culture and language, and this story is unique, and the photo is great. Wish I was at that Gathering, or even better living as Guanche Indian in the 8th Century.