Before trumpets, trombones and loudspeakers, we had our ‘Kachu’ (pronounced: ‘Ka-choo’) or ‘Kachu di Baka’ (cow’s horn). We can’t take full credit, we probably imported her from Central Africa, the Bantu people would make her out of antelope horns.
Our grandinan (‘big ones’, ancestors) would appoint a ‘Kachulero’ to announce births, deaths, heavy work such as transporting stones and other important events in the kunuku (country). Each pattern of blows reverberates a special Morse code of our heart, spirit and soul.
Kachu also accompanies our bari, chapi, agan in providing a rhythmic base for arduous manual work and harvesting.
Source: “Musical Traditions in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao” by Jos Gansemans published in ‘Music in Latin America and the Caribbean’
Thanks Carolina for sharing all this info !