The heritage trail to nationhood

In South Carolina, heritage tours allow you to experience the culture and history of the ‘Gullah’ an African American community that survived enslavement, and in the midst of bustling Hong Kong, heritage trails provide windows into the ancient world of former dynasties, pagodas, temples and more.

Here at home, we can celebrate the recent addition of six new heritage trails in Tobago centred on Scarborough and other places, featuring historic buildings and significant aspects of the history and heritage of the island.

According to the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) this project “... is in keeping with UNESCO ’s thrust to encourage heritage preservation globally; the initiative is helping to preserve historical relics in Tobago and highlight the rich historical heritage of the island.” In 2013, it was estimated that heritage tourism contributed over 26 billion pounds to the British economy; a significant portion of this contributed by residents who made the decision to stay at home for their vacation. In commenting on the data, the Chair of the UK Heritage Alliance noted that this is “incontestable proof that our unique heritage is one of our major national assets and can contribute to our national economic recovery. Heritage means business for Britain.” We in T&T can learn much from these global success stories.

Few countries in the world can boast of the complex mix of heritages and cultures that we take for granted.

Handled correctly, we have an opportunity to harness our unique traits for sustainable development, job creation and financial advantage. Further, our urban centres are replete with secrets, history, and intrigue – establishing historical trails across the country would provide a much needed boost to the way we currently learn about who we are.

Heritage has the potential to impact educational and social perspectives about our place in the world, eventually fostering through this consciousness a strong spirit of nation building.

Regrettably, there are still many impediments to making this vision a reality.

My own enquiries have revealed a labyrinth of bureaucracy when it comes to something as simple as constructing signs at heritage sites.

Apparently one ministry needs to discuss it with another one, after which they have to consult with the tourist bodies, who then need to ... well you get my point.

But there really is no need to discuss this because a template already exists.

You see, there is currently a global standard for signage at tourist and heritage sites – white lettering on a brown background – existing since the 1970s. Subsequently, institutions like the World Tourism Organisation (WTO ) have developed recognisable symbols for bathrooms, facilities for the differently abled and so on.

Further, we should have little problem garnering resources to help us preserve the sites that need protection.

The UNESCO site shows that T&T became a party to the 1972 World Heritage Convention in 2005.

This means that we have access to something called the ‘World Heritage Fund’ which provides ‘about $US4 million annually to support states in need of assistance to protect and preserve their heritage sites’.

The small town of ‘Stratford’ has developed into a space where visitors from all over the world absorb history and willingly spend money to benefit from the experience. The legacy of Shakespeare isn’t any more valuable than the tale of our ‘Banwari Man’ or any other aspect of our rich history.

The British and others have worked out the value of their heritage.

It’s time we do the same.

*Dara Healy is a performance artist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN. Dara Healy is also guest columnist for this week. She returns to her regular slot in Saturday Newsday next week.