The Gullah Geechee Community

their history and future preservation

This is part of a thesis series within the boundaries between cultures- exploring how participatory design can empower a community and culture at risk. Read the introduction.

The Gullah Geechee, ancestors of enslaved Africans brought to the Southeastern Atlantic Coast from West and Central Africa during the Transatlantic slave trade, are a community and culture unlike any other in the United States. Often referred to as the country’s most distinctive African American population (National Park Service, 2007), the Gullah Geechee are a cumulation of diverse African ethnic groups originating in the region of Senegal down to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Enslaved Africans were forced to work on the plantations of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida between the 16th and 19th century. Here, along the Sea Islands, the groups encountered one another and, given the circumstances, cultural traditions began to merge (Green, 2013). A new culture began to form; a culture that was constantly reinforced by the introduction of new slaves, renewing their ancestral customs (Brabec and Richardson, 2007).

Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor | Photo: Telfair Museums

Community

Isolation of this region’s barrier islands, once only connected by creeks, rivers, and marshes, created a microcosm for the slave culture to develop its own cultural practices with little outside influence. This isolation also assisted in the retention of their African customs, preferred by both white America and the Gullah Geechee, creating a unique American situation where assimilation was avoided. On many Lowcountry plantations, the ‘task’ method was the preferred choice of slave labor (Hussmann, 2006). Small groups of slaves, often of similar ethnicities, were formed and then ‘seasoned’, learning plantation discipline, routines, and tasks (Hussmann, 2006). Each slave was given a set amount of work for the day, once completed he or she was allowed free time. This time allowed for the formation of their own communities, time to tend to their own crops, and eventual wealth acquisition “through the production and barter of wares” (Rowland, Moore, and Rogers 1996, 353). A strong economy developed within the slave community, one that fostered a sense of self, place, and self-determination. Though food rations were scant and labor grueling, the ‘task’ method constructed resiliency in the form of community and connection, not only within the slave community but to the land as well. In addition to relying on the natural environment, the Gullah Geechee developed a community and economy around the selling of their crafts and services (Jones-Jackson, 1987). “The old skills brought from Africa or learned during slavery, when everything needed for the plantation was made or serviced by the slaves”, were able to linger in the Sea Islands, long after the formal end of slavery (Jones-Jackson, 1987). As that remained the case for some time, the Gullah Geechee are now facing the pressures of a modern society.

Photos: Pete Marovich

Through the flows between boundaries, distinctions are enhanced by bringing differences together on equal terms. Relating back to systems, even cultures are “inextricably intertwined and organic.” (Ellin, 2006). In the past, there have been powerful players in the conservation of the Lowcountry- a region spanning 100 miles along the Atlantic coast from Charleston to Savannah, rich in history, cultural diversity and biodiversity. Guardians of the Lowcountry range from newcomers to natives, outsiders to insiders, people of all classes and races. This multidisciplined action has begun to stretch the boundaries of conservation, bridging the gap between humans and nature, to “include attentiveness to a region’s ethno-cultural traditions and folkways” (Halfacre, 2012). Often times it is much easier to conserve the environment than it is a culture. However, in order to understand and improve the environmental quality of a region, the cultural fabric and heritage are crucial factors that must be addressed.

Explore other posts in this series:

1. The Power in Cultural Diversity
2. The Road to Cultural Pluralism
3. Integrating Translucent Acculturation
4. Permeable Membranes
5. Hybridity, Vulnerability, and Authenticity
6. The Gullah Geechee Community
7. Culture at Risk

Bibliography

National Park Service. (2005). Low Country Gullah Culture: Special Resource Study and Final Environmental Impact Statement. Ga.: NPS Southeast Region.

Green, G. T. (2013). The Unique Culture of Gullah/Geechee Families on the Southern Coast of the United States. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(5), 573–578.

Hussmann, M. (2006). Life-everlasting: Nature and Culture on Sapelo Island. Southern Cultures.

Halfacre, A. C. (2013). A Delicate Balance: Constructing a Conservation Culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.Ellin, N. (2007). Integral Urbanism. New York: Routledge.

Jones-Jackson, P. (1997). When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands. Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia Press.

Ellin, N. (2007). Integral Urbanism. New York: Routledge.