The Gullahs

The first time I ever heard of the Gullahs, was several decades ago when I was on a cruise which made a stop in Charleston. 

Gullah perfection. A display in the African American Museum.

I had visited the craft market there and in talking to a vendor who sounded very Caribbean, as a Caribbean person myself, I naturally asked her which island she came from?

Imagine my shock when she said she was born in South Carolina and had never been to the Caribbean!

Shock, as I had no idea any born Americans spoke anything but American!🌝

Tourists flock the market to get Gullah craft

Naturally I questioned her about their ancestry, language etc, but not being satisfied, determined to one day I would get to the bottom of who the Gullahs were, their language and lifestyle in the USA.

It took me many moons to get around to it, but I did, on a recent visit to Charleston, S. Carolina.

Incidentally in the interim I did meet a lady at my bank, who told me she was from S. Carolina which she told me was a 'must visit,' but alas, she misinformed me as to the origin of the Gullahs and their language! 

Anyway, it was her intervention which caused me to remember the project.😀

 In short, on visiting  S. Carolina, I learned that like our ancestors,  the Gullahs were brought as slaves from West Africa and because they brought their rice growing skills with them, many slave owners in S. Carolina found that very useful for their huge plantations.

Gullah iron craft

Because of their relative isolation from whites while working on large plantations in rural areas, they developed a creole culture that has preserved much of their African linguistic, artistic and cultural heritage.

 Their language which is called Geechee, evolved just like our Jamaican patois, Barbadian creole etc. 

No wonder it sounded so Caribbean when I met my first Gullah decades ago!

 Gullah traditions remain very strong in Charleston and even when they migrate north to places like New York,  I hear, like us Jamaicans, second-and third-generations often maintain many of their traditional customs and still speak the Gullah Geechee language.

They are also extremely artistic people, best known for their baskets and other creations made from Sweetgrass.

These are beautiful products which can last a lifetime, I was told. 

Because they are time consuming and delicate to make, the tend to be very expensive, some for home decorations, costing up to US$10,000 I was told! 

I thought of buying a basket myself, but on seeing the US$450 price tag, departed quickly.😁

There is  a lot of info about the Gullahs at the Afro American Museum in Charleston and I highly recommend the Gullah Tour there, to get a good feel of their interesting but somewhat similiar culture.