Gullah Geeche & African Diaspora
A sweetgrass basket made from Vera Manigault, a member of the Gullah Geeche
When creating trivia questions for Hampton University’s Black History Month Contest, one of the HistoryMakers I selected was computer scientist and academic administrator, M. Brian Blake (1971-). In one of the clips, Blake discusses meeting his biological grandfather on his mother’s side:
“I couldn't give you his full name, but I know that he, I think, was African by descent and he hadn't--he wasn't--I guess, his lineage in South Carolina is not as deep as everyone else” [1]
HistoryMakers interviewer, Larry Crowe proceeds to ask Blake if he suspects that his biological grandfather has “Sea Island lineage, Gullah Geeche?” [1]. Although Blake was unsure, he believ ed that it could be possible for his biological grandfather to be descended from the Gullah Geeche.
Prior to writing this blog post, I first heard of the Gullah from my grandmother. I remember her expressing her disdain for land developers and corporations capitalizing on the Gullah’s ancestral land. She also elaborated on their intricate basket weaving and how they had a strong connection to West Africa. With Blake’s interview and my grandmother’s knowledge, I decided to write my blog post on the Gullah people as part of the African Diaspora.
Before beginning my research, I had wondered if the terms “Gullah” and “Geeche” differed, as I have heard them used interchangeably. Within the archive, I first searched Gullah, which yielded 128 results. After combing through various interviews, I have concluded that there is currently a debate on whether there is a difference between the two terms.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GULLAH AND GEECHE?
Painter and HistoryMaker Jonathan Green. As stated in his interview, much of his artwork is inspired by his Gullah heritage.
Painter and printmaker Jonathan Green (1955-) discussed the difference between Gullah and Geeche in his interview:
“The, the difference is basically, the people from the Georgia area are the Geechies. The Gullah are from the South Carolina area.” [2]. Based on his knowledge, Green further explains the difference between the two terms: “the Geechies and the Gullah, I think the Geechies are people that were mainly from Guiana. The Gullah's are from the area of Angola.” [2].
Additionally, the search term, “Gullah” led me to an important figure in the Gullah Geeche community, Emory Campbell (1941-). Campbell lead efforts to connect the Gullah with relatives in Sierra Leone. Campbell discusses the difference between the Gullah and Geeche:
“When people were brought from West Africa for the rice plantations, they came from that region of West Africa where they did a lot of rice growing. You saw advertisement for Gola Negroes during slavery. There are old historic ads. And we think that got changed to Gullah.” [3].
“Geechee we don't know exactly where it derived from but we know that along the Ogeechee River there were rice growing fields, and we think that that might have been where Geechee came from. But also there is a region in West Africa known as Kissi. Some people think that that might have been a source of the term Geechee.” [3].
However, Campbell clarifies and states that “there is no difference in the culture. Both cultures are very much the same, language, religious belief, family life, pretty much, very much, very much the same Geechee, Gullah. In South Carolina, Georgia, Sea Islands, pretty much the same.” [3]
As part of the Gullah Geeche, HistoryMaker Emory Campbell has strived to preserve and protect the Gullah Geeche
GEOGRAPHY
A map of the Sea Islands and their names in which the Gullah Geeche are located.
After reading his biography, I decided to view Jonathan Green’s full interview. When searching “Gullah” in his interview, 8 results appeared. In one clip, Green describes the geographical location of the Gullah community:
“The Gullah community is actually from Jacksonville, Florida to Jacksonville, North Carolina, all of the coastal islands, the inlets and the marshland area. Those people all are considered, considered the Gullah, those people are the most true to the African culture as any Afro-American here on, on the shores of the United States of America” [4].
“Port Royale, which is near Beaufort, South Carolina, is considered our Ellis Island, and that's where many of the blacks came through port from Africa to the Caribbean to the United States of America. And many of those blacks worked on the plantations that were built in the area because the land was so fertile.” [4].
Doll artist Zenobia Washington (1966 -) further adds to the where the Gullah community resides:
“Georgetown County [South Carolina] on down... I say Highway 17 all the way to Sea Islands, Georgetown County down to Charleston, Beaufort, St. Helena, Hilton Head--all of those islands that are kind of jutted up in there--down to Sapelo Island, Georgia, are considered to be where Geechee people lived” [5].
Port Royal, South Carolina
LANGUAGE
Within my courses as a speech-language pathologist, we discuss how language is a rule-governed system which encompasses the use of spoken, written, and/or another form of communication.
We also discuss that within all languages, there are five domains of language. Green discusses morphological (grammar) and pragmatic (using language in a social context) aspects of the Gullah language:
“[The Gullah] language that's spoken the present tense, and there is no beginning or end to the language, meaning that because it's a language based on oral tradition. You have to understand your family and something of your culture in order to be able to speak the language.” [6].
Green elaborates and discusses the social customs of Gullah: “Gullah is also spoken with eye contact. It's spoken with, you know, body gesture, language, you know.” [6]
State deputy attorney Jack Johnson (1949-) discusses the Gullah language, which supports Washington and Green’s experience with the language:
“The Gullah language is kind of an interesting. It's, it's kind of--I don't know if it's language that you can write. I don't know if it's language that you write that well. I don't know whether--I think people who have done that, done a great job. But it's language that, if you're part of it, you really understand it. And then, sometimes people will say to me, "Well, could you speak it to me?" And I, I really cannot, but when I go back to the island, I fall right, I can fall right back into the, the texture of the language, you might say” [7].
PUBLICATIONS:
A photo of two cousins taken as part of Moutoussamy-Ashe’s “Daufuskie Island” photo collection
After listening to clips from Greene and Campell discussing the importance of St. Helena to the Gullah community, I searched “St. Helena”, which yielded 99 results. Photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe (1951-) (and wife of late tennis player, Arthur Ashe) completed her first book project that focused on the Gullah in Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.
With collaboration and guidance from HistoryMaker Emory Campbell, Moutoussamy-Ashe details her experience visiting and photographing Daufuskie Island:
“The only way you can get there is by boat. So Emory got on the boat with me and thus started my project of photographing Daufuskie Island. That was in April of '77 [1977] and I photographed it until January of '81 [1981] and took it to the University of South Carolina Press [Columbia, South Carolina]. They published it and it came out in October of '82 [1982.]” [8]
Moutoussamy-Ashe Daufuskie Island collection: http://jeannemoutoussamy-ashe.com/collections/daufuskie-island/
PRESERVATION EFFORTS:
South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn (left) and Jacksonville, FL Mayor Alvin Brown (right) standing by a new Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor sign in Jacksonville, FL
After discussing her experience visiting Daufuskie Island for her book, Moutoussamy-Ashe discusses the detrimental effects of land development on the Gullah community. She provides context as to what has caused this:
“[The developers] would promise the islanders a piece of property in Savannah [Georgia] or somewhere else on the mainland. And of course they ended up in these little matchbook apartment houses that they moved into and lost their land but the island has since been developed. I think that there's still some native Daufuskians that are still there but the people that I knew and worked with, most of them are gone.” [9].
Within the search results for “Gullah”, a clip from real estate entrepreneur and civic leader Charles E. Simmons (1928-2016) discusses a bill passed around the time of the interview to preserve the Gullah culture at the federal level:
“[U.S.] Congress just passed a bill here about a month ago, month or two ago for the Gullah overlay district, I think it starts North Carolina and go down to Florida or Georgia. I don't know if it goes all the way to Florida or not but I know--and, of course, Representative Clyburn [HistoryMaker James Clyburn] introduced that bill and it was passed. And some monies are being made available to--for certain areas and certain organizations… each area is gonna have a, an organization that's gonna be responsible to carry out a program in that Gullah overlay district.” [10].
When discussing her hopes and concerns for the African-American community, Zenobia Washington stresses the importance of preservation within the Gullah/Geechee community:
“The Geechee/Gullah culture is a jewel culture, and it needs to be preserved and respected, and not prostituted. And a lot of people want to do that, too; they want to make money off of it. [11].
CONNECTION TO THE AFRICA DIASPORA:
To summarize the Gullah’s connection to the African Diaspora, Green provides a broad analysis examining the relationship between the Gullah and African culture:
“ Their appearance, their look, their, their attitudes, their gestures, their body language, their body shapes, their genetic memory, the knowledge of, of basket making, net making, pottery, iron work. Their knowledge of land cultivation. Their, their knowledge and their zing for fashion [12] ”
SEARCH TERMS:
GULLAH [128 RESULTS]
GEECHE [2 RESULTS]
GULLAH GEECHE [1 RESULT]
SEA ISLANDS [199 results]
ST. HELENA [99 results]
THE HONORABLE JAMES E. CLYBURN < GULLAH [NO RESULTS]
GULLAH + BASKET [6 RESULTS]
MARQUETTA GOODWINE [1 result]
QUEEN QUET [1 result]
REFERENCES
1. M. Brian Blake (The HistoryMakers A2013.139), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 3, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 3, M. Brian Blake describes his mother's family background
2. Jonathan Green (The HistoryMakers A2002.055), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 16, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 8, Jonathan Green explains the difference between the Geechie and the Gullah
3. Emory Campbell (The HistoryMakers A2007.035), interviewed by Denise Gines, January 30, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, Emory Campbell talks about the terms Geechee and Gullah
4. Jonathan Green (The HistoryMakers A2002.055), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 16, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 7, Jonathan Green details the origins of his ancestors, the Gullah people
5. Zenobia Washington (The HistoryMakers A2002.222), interviewed by Larry Crowe, December 5, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 6, Zenobia Washington talks about the importance of the Gullah/Geechee language
6. Jonathan Green (The HistoryMakers A2002.055), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 16, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 10, Jonathan Green discusses the linguistic inner workings of the Gullah language
7. Jack Johnson (The HistoryMakers A2007.163), interviewed by Denise Gines, April 26, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, Jack Johnson describes the Gullah language and culture
8. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe (The HistoryMakers A2007.008), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 15, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 8, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe describes her first book project, 'Daufuskie Island,' pt. 1
9. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe (The HistoryMakers A2007.008), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 15, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 9, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe talks about preserving the Gullah culture
10. Charles E. Simmons (The HistoryMakers A2007.032), interviewed by Denise Gines, January 29, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 3, Charles E. Simmons recalls the Native Island Business and Community Affairs Association
11. Zenobia Washington (The HistoryMakers A2002.222), interviewed by Larry Crowe, December 5, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 8, Zenobia Washington describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community
12. Jonathan Green (The HistoryMakers A2002.055), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 16, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 9, Jonathan Green examines the relationship between Gullah and African culture
