Morocco: In Azilal region, locals fight to preserve herders's ancestral whistled language

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00:00As Brahim Amrawi herds his goats through Morocco's Atlas Mountains,

00:05only the distant sound of whistling rises above the silence.

00:12This shepherd just asked his son to gather the rest of the herd,

00:15for in these high-pitched notes hides a centuries-old language

00:19that's been passed down through generations.

00:23We learned this whistling language from our ancestors,

00:26who used it to communicate with each other while tending to their herds.

00:32It's since evolved to become a fully-fledged language.

00:39With no roads or paths, the slightest trip takes hours in these remote mountains,

00:43located 400 kilometers southeast of Rabat.

00:47And without phones or electricity,

00:49local populations have been forced to rely on whistling to communicate.

00:53Within the walls of these rocky valleys,

00:56the piercing sound can be heard up to three kilometers away.

01:00This whistled language is a huge help to the herders.

01:06It acts like a remote control for the animals.

01:08It also facilitates contact between people living in these areas,

01:12who do not have any other means of communication.

01:15A unique language in Morocco that could soon become extinct.

01:24In recent years, drought and poverty have forced many families to flee the mountains.

01:29Today, only a handful remain, intent on continuing to preserve and pass down their ancestral heritage.

01:36Ireland has only

01:55every year.

01:56Let's take some more interviews.

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