akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt
Senior Reporter
The Tassa Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has joined the debate on the altering of the Coat of Arms, boldly claiming that the tassa drum is more of a local instrument than the steelpan.
TATT’s assertion came hours after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley stated that the simple reason the steelpan was considered for the new Coat of Arms, where it will replace Christopher Columbus’ three ships, is because that instrument was invented here and is indigenous to this country.
Dr Keith Rowley made the coment during the PNM’s La Horquetta/Talparo Constituency Conference at Phase II, La Horquetta, on Tuesday night, where he noted that as much as people may like the tassa and other instruments, their origins are from other countries.
But while acknowledging and supporting the steelpan as this country’s first national instrument, TATT yesterday said, “No part of the steel drum is from T&T, as it is a fully imported metal container that came from other countries into Trinidad.”
In contrast, TATT said the tassa, which is also played every day in this country, is fully made with no imported materials.
“The skin is from our local goat, sheep or deer, the sticks are made from T&T wild sugarcane, the bowl is made from T&T clay and the bass is made from the mango tree,” TATT said, adding that even the tamboo bamboo instrument is more indigenous to this country than the steelpan.
Offering its version of the history of the steelpan, TATT said, “What was done in Trinidad with the imported steel drums was the retuning and fine-tuning the steel drum/ pan into a full musical instrument.”
TATT claimed the imported steel drum metal container already came with a sound. However, it thanked this nation’s ancestors for rebelling against their colonial masters to set off a chain of events which led to the creation of the steelpan.
“If the then colonial rulers did not ban the sound of what they called noisy sounds of the bamboo and biscuit tins, accusing the slaves of communicating via those instruments, today we would not have known about the steel drum as an instrument as we know it, because the discarded empty steel drums were then used and it started with a two-note called the dudop,” TATT said.
However, even with that historical context TATT maintained, “To compare both instruments, it’s clear the steel drum is a foreign metal instrument and the tassa is a 100 per cent local instrument.”
But Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randal Mitchell vehemently disagrees with TATT.
While telling Guardian Media he does not wish to be drawn into the “dog whistling that some find it necessary to engage in on the issue,” Mitchell argued, “The issue was never about whether the goat or the goat’s skin was imported or not. It is about invention. There is one musical instrument that was invented and developed in Trinidad and Tobago. That musical instrument is the steelpan.”
He added, “And it is the fact that the steelpan was invented here, as well as the careful process of converting a discarded oil drum into a percussive musical instrument, and the value added by our skilled producers and tuners that allowed us, through Pan Trinbago, to gain a Geographical Indication from the Intellectual Property Office.”
Meanwhile, Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore also refused to be drawn into a debate with TATT. However, she sought to underscore, “Pan is Trinidad and Tobago, it is not an African thing, it is not an Indian thing, it is not a Chinese thing, it is not a Syrian thing or any of the other races, it is a Trinidad and Tobago instrument.”
Ramsey-Moore said the pan fraternity was honoured and excited with the proposed inclusion of the instrument on the Coat of Arms. She said a lot of hard work went into ensuring that the steelpan was legally recognised as this country’s national instrument.
