Written By Gloria Underwood, PhD

lusters of women weave sweet grass baskets; young black men cast shrimp nets in the creeks of the May River and the Colleton; okra, shrimp, and rice cook up for a gumbo: these scenes are visible most days in the Lowcountry. These very same scenarios would have been around almost 400 years ago when the first Africans -- the Gullah people -- arrived on the Barrier Islands and remained in the region from Georgetown, South Carolina, to the northern border of Florida. Some historians say the Gullah people reach as far north as the North Carolina coast and include the barrier islands along the northern coast of Florida.

Today, “Gullah” refers to the descendants of the people from the West African rice coast who were enslaved and brought over; it also refers to descendents of Blacks who settled in the coastal areas after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1862. Daughters of the Dust, produced by Julie Dash and Arthur Jafa, is a beautiful film that examines their arrival on Ibo Landing and explores the gradual transition between that culture and traditional European culture. The Legacy of Ibo Landing: Gullah Roots of African American Culture, edited by Marguetta L. Goodwine, is an exploration of the subject in written form.

The derivation of the word “Gullah” has been lost. However, a couple of explanations survive: It may be a shortened form of Angola, the region of Western Africa from which a large number of Africans were imported to the Sea Islands. Or it may be a version of the name of a specific Liberian group or tribe, called “Golas,” “Goras,” “Gulas,” “Golos,” among other variations. The term “Geechee” may be used to refer to Gullah people, specifically, some sources say, those who lived in the area of the Ogeechee River. Other sources consider it a term of derision.

Theoretically, the Lowcountry islands were so isolated, they allowed for greater retention of cultural elements derived from the native African communities. These elements include language, foods and their preparation, music and the arts, religious practices, and spiritual beliefs.

The various tribes of Africa did not speak the same languages. Add to that mix the language they heard upon their arrival on American soil. The Gullah language is a derivative of that mixture, with some elements of the West Indies thrown in. A few words are recognizable to contemporary speakers of English, but many words and phrases, as well as the sentence structure, is different from European language patterns. Margaret Washington Creel offers a thorough discussion of the language and its derivations in “A Peculiar People” - Slave Religion and Community - Culture among the Gullahs.

In addition to language, a number of art forms are still practiced today. The sweet grass baskets have become treasured objects which, utilitarian as well as beautiful, grace many tables and walls in Lowcountry homes. Some artisans continue to process indigo to use in their weavings for fabric that will end up in scarves, quilts, dresses, and shirts. Not only do descendants of native islanders weave beautiful fabrics, they also create and repair the shrimp nets that help provide a source of income as well as sustenance. The descendants who cast for shrimp in the local creeks perform this task with the same grace as the Alvin Ailey dancers.

Preparation of foods is another art form that remains. This month’s Bluffton Breeze features Sallie Ann Robinson’s brand new cookbook, Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way, co-written and with photographs by Greg Smith. While it contains some wonderful recipes, the book is filled with Ms. Robinson’s memories of her Gullah childhood on Daufuskie Island. Another cookbook that was written last year is called The Ultimate Gullah Cookbook, by Jesse Edward Gantt, Jr., and Veronica Davis Gerald. Both books contain recipes that include original foods that crossed over from Africa: okra, yams, rice, peanuts, gumbos, stews.

Gullah spirituality has taken two forms. Gullah people have traditionally been a culture that loves, worships, and praises God. Whether it was the Europeans’ God that was presented to them, and in some cases forced upon them, or their own God/s that came with them from Africa, their beliefs helped to preserve their sanity during the unendurable era of slavery and later during the more modern manifestations of racism. One of the traditions gradually dying out is the Praise Houses. God’s Gonna Trouble the Water is a video recording produced by South Carolina Educational Television that traces the history of Praise Houses in the Lowcountry, especially in Beaufort County.

The second form of spirituality has to do with the spirit world. On occasion, you will see a house with the wood around the windows and doors painted “haint” blue; this blue shade, according to superstition, keeps evil spirits out of the house. Roger Pinckney, a Beaufort native and currently a Daufuskie Island resident, addresses this and other beliefs in Blue Roots: African-American Folk Magic of the Gullah People.

African culture is vernacular, originally preserved and celebrated verbally and aurally. Rather than a written language, history, and heritage, the traditions were transmitted through song, dance, and story. The vernacular nature of the culture has reinforced the use of rhythm, inflection, and movement within these songs, stories, and dances. Marlena Smalls and The Hallelujah Singers demonstrate these elements. Listen to Ms. Smalls’ recording Heritage Not Hate: Discovering Gullah and Finding Myself or the CD Songs Uv Dee Gullah Pee’puls by the Gullah Kinfolk.

No discussion of Lowcountry Gullah is complete without a mention of Penn Center and Emory Campbell. Penn School was founded in 1862 on St. Helena Island as the first school for formerly enslaved blacks. After years as an institution for formal education, it became Penn Center in the mid-1950s. It has served as a community development center since that time and has become one of the most important sources for Gullah cultural legacies in the nation. In 1980, Emory Campbell became Executive Director and has worked tirelessly toward the preservation of the Gullah. His book Gullah Cultural Legacies: A Synopsis of Gullah Traditions, Customary Beliefs, Art Forms and Speech on Hilton Head Island and Vicinal Sea Islands in South Carolina and Georgia is a valuable aid in beginning to appreciate and recognize Gullah’s offerings to the Lowcountry.

American political, social, and cultural foundations shifted through various upheavals between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and contemporary society in 2004. Some changes were as slow as the gradual wearing away of rocks and shells to make ocean sand; others were as violent as hurricanes and earthquakes, shattering the lives of those left in the wake. For the descendants of the Lowcountry Gullah people, one of the most positive changes has been a renewed interest in learning about and preserving Gullah heritage. The entire month of February is devoted to Gullah Celebration in this area. Take the time to attend one of the events. The history is rich, and your efforts will be rewarded.

(Author’s note: The Bluffton Branch of the Beaufort Library has access to every source mentioned here, plus about 70 more.)