Off The Beaten Track: Columbus' Anchor

Sangeeta Nancy Boondoo, an attorney with the government of Trinidad and Tobago, is a student of life. She's always on the lookout for something new and interesting to learn and do. She loves to travel, and though she hasn't yet been to India, the land of her ancestors, it's at the top of her list to visit someday. She loves to go to the beach, take nature hikes, and bake. She does not like to cook, but she collects cookbooks anyway, along with all kinds of other books. A girl after our own heart...

It can be difficult to explain to people why a person can like a museum. I know I tried on a few occasions. Why do I like them? Simple. One never knows the treasures and discoveries to be made when a museum is visited!! Last year I visited the National Museum and Art Gallery (Royal Victoria Institute) in Port-of-Spain for the first time as an adult, with all the time in the world to wander around. I “found” quite a few treasures, but one stood out in particular: Christopher Columbus’ anchor.

The National Museum and Art Gallery (Royal Victoria Institute) is housed in a beautiful old building, built at first as a Science and Art Museum to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and hence originally called the Victoria Institute. It was opened on 17th September, 1902 and over a century later Royal Victoria is still a very beautiful lady. 

The building is currently under renovation, with visitors having to walk across the southern courtyard to enter. I didn’t mind because it was right around the corner, and in the recent past the building was marked for demolition. The courtyard is rather inconspicuous, and I remember resigning myself to the fact that only in Trinidad would the entrance to our national museum be like this.

 Passing a white, wiry swan as I entered, I was not deterred, certain that at the very least there were a few cannons scattered around the courtyard, and they were sure to entertain me for a while. The courtyard had a surprise though, neatly tucked away in a corner, next to the swan stood a simple anchor with a metal plate inscribed with some writing. I took the pictures first, and then I went in closer to read the writing. This simple anchor, almost blending in with the shrubbery, was said to be the anchor lost by Christopher Columbus along the shores of Trinidad in 1498—and it had been exhibited as such in Normandy, Paris, Madrid, and Chicago. I was excited, and given that I was not prohibited from touching it either by a sign or the knowledge that I would damage it, I admit I did reach out and touch it, imaging to myself the stories this anchor could tell if it were able to. 

I left the museum quite happy, having photographed and noted the many treasures housed within but saddened at the difficulties that the museum staff faced in maintaining them. It is sad how little we appreciate our history.

Christopher discovered Trinidad during his third voyage to the new world. The legend is that having sighted land on 31st July, 1498 and seeing three hills, Columbus was reminded of an earlier promise to name the first land he discovered “La Trinity” after the Holy Trinity. La Trinity became Trinidad over the years and has stuck. The three hills Columbus saw are a bit of a myth because that triad of hills which inspired Columbus is yet to be found; fishermen report that in certain conditions they can see the Trinity.

Columbus’ records indicated that he and his crew stopped several times along the Trinidadian coast. On the second day of one such stop, at  “Punta del Arenal,” Columbus and his crew, on noticing a large canoe carrying twenty four Amerindians armed with bows, arrows, and wooden shields, ordered his men to play drums and dance. It was perhaps one of the earliest examples of the tourists not understanding local culture but having done some research, mistakenly thinking that they knew it all. The tourist guides did get it wrong long before the modern-day tourism industry. The Amerindians began showering arrows onto the ships and, according to the records, managed to communicate with a ship captain.  

Later that night Columbus stopped somewhere along the coast near modern day Icacos, at a spot in which the sea was apparently rough and lost the anchor of one of his ships. 

An anchor bearing the date 1497 imprinted on its stock was discovered in Icacos by one Mr. Agostini whilst conducting excavations on his plantation in 1877. The New York Times reported the find on April 12, 1880, stating that, “...it seems by no means improbable that it crossed the Atlantic on board the vessel which in the following year carried the Genoese adventurer outward upon his third voyage...”.

According to the inscription, the anchor’s 15th-century authenticity was confirmed by the French Societé Des Antiquiaries. Mr. Agostini later presented the anchor to the nation on March 9, 1912 and it has been since housed at the National Museum.

I have always heard that you never know what treasures lie waiting around the corner, and having literally discovered a treasure around the corner, I can’t wait to see what lies behind the next corner!

Off The Beaten Track: Calypso, Tell me a Story

Sangeeta Nancy Boondoo, an attorney with the government of Trinidad and Tobago, is a student of life. She's always on the lookout for something new and interesting to learn and do. She loves to travel, and though she hasn't yet been to India, the land of her ancestors, it's at the top of her list to visit someday. She loves to go to the beach, take nature hikes, and bake. She does not like to cook, but she collects cookbooks anyway, along with all kinds of other books. A girl after our own heart...

Calypso music, like the steel pan and chutney music, originated from my beautiful, small country of Trinidad and Tobago, and unfortunately, it is a largely unappreciated art form in a world filled of “production-line” type music. Calypso music had its birth amongst the Afro-Trinibagonian slave population and is reported to have been a means of communication between the slaves in a time when their communication with each other was severely limited by the plantocracy, who were no doubt afraid of a slave revolution, which occurred regularly on other Caribbean islands. Calypso music has since developed to become witty social commentary set to music, and over the years, has served as historical records of events, whether local or global, capture Trinidad and Tobago’s attention. As we approach Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, the local highlight of the calypsonian’s year, I thought it appropriate to share a few of my favourite songs and explain the stories they tell.

One of my all time favourites is Lord Invader’s “Rum and Coca Cola.” Yes, you read right – Lord Invader’s, not the Andrews Sisters. Here’s Lord  Invader’s original version:

Apparently, Lord Invader’s intellectual property rights got infringed way back in the 1940s. If you want to read about it, you can at: http://www.rumandcocacolareader.com/RumAndCocaCola/main.html 

What does this song have to do with our history? Well, firstly, Trinidad and Tobago, though a British West Indian colony, has always had ties with the United States.  In 1941, the U.S. and Britain signed the Lend-Lease Agreement, also called the Bases-for-Destroyers Agreement. As part of this agreement, the Americans got 99-year leases of the deepwater harbor on Trinidad’s north coast, along with three army bases, one each at Chaguaramas, Wallerfield, and Carlsen Field. Thousands of Trinidadians worked at these bases for higher wages and in better conditions than they were accustomed to. My grandmother spoke fondly of my grandfather’s experiences while working at the Carlsen Field base. There were also the female Trinidadians who worked in an entirely different manner – as prostitutes, entertaining the Americans and Canadians who were stationed here; they too made higher wages than the other islanders. 

Lord Invader was inspired by this situation, and the fact that the Americans used to chase (drink) the local rum with their Coca Cola at limings (hangouts) such as Point Cumana. The wages of the prostitutes was apparently so high that mothers would pimp or even join their daughters in the profession, “working for the Yankee dollar,” as Lord Invader eloquently put it.

In 1936, Attila the Hun sang “Roosevelt in Trinidad,” a lively calypso recording the visit of then U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Trinidad. Roosevelt was on a secret mission to Casablanca, and because of the tumultuous period before World War II, he flew the longer route through Trinidad as part of the secrecy. The calypso extolled Roosevelt’s virtues. Listen to it here:

It is said that Roosevelt became a fan of calypso music after hearing this song. Wouldn’t you too if you were flatteringly portrayed in song?

Jumping a few decades later into 1967, Lord Kitchener sang the popular “Take Yuh Meat Out Mih Rice,” a conversation between a Bajan (a citizen of Barbados, a Caribbean neighbor) and a Trini (short for Trinidadian), complete with the accents. Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados have shared a long love-hate relationship, and in this calypso, the Bajan and Trini, unable to make it alone and being hungry, decide to pool their resources to make a meal of meat and rice, the Bajan contributing the rice and the Trini the meat. After the meal is finished cooking, the Bajan continuously diminishes the Trini’s contribution as a justification for reducing his own share. Over the years, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have had disputes over maritime borders, cricket, and flying fish. Why flying fish? Well, the Bajans alleged that they have fished flying fish, the national icon of Barbados, off the coast of Tobago since the seventeenth century. We Trinis, for the most part, do not take too kindly to the Bajans passing of our fish as their own. In the opinion of many, this calypso song, though decades old, still applies. It’s sure to put a smile on your face! Take a listen:

One of the best calypos around is Ras Shorty I’s “Watch Out, My Children,” released in 1997. In the 1990s, the country’s drug problem began to surface. After meeting some young boys high on cocaine and looking as if their lives had been wasted, Ras Shorty I was inspired to write this song. Interestingly enough, the United Nations International Drug Control Programme chose the anti-drug anthem in 2002 as its theme song. It is timeless and beautiful, and if you listen to no other calypso on this list, I ask that you at least listen to this one:

 

There is a tremendous amount of calypso music, though my list is short and does little justice to the great art form. Calypsos have recorded much international history, such as about the Russian Space Station, Edward VII’s abdication, the first nuclear weapon, and a visit by the famous German airship, Graf Zepplin, to Trinidad in 1934 on its way to the Chicago Fair. While calypsonian musicians have stopped naming themselves “Lord,” the stage names are still unusual, and the music continues to tell our story and define us as a nation.