Hello Nina1952,
Below you will find information about the Geechee people and the Sea Islands.
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?Gullahs, also referred to as Geechee in some parts of the South, are
the descendants of African slaves brought to the United States by
European planters during the 18th and 19th centuries. Many still live
on or near islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and
North Florida. ?
?The Gullah represents a unique branch of black history. Because they
have preserved so much of their African cultural history, they are
arguably the most authentic African-American community in the United
States.?
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/news/02/13/gullah/
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Extending along the coast from the border of North and South Carolina
to Amelia Island, Florida, and approximately 30 miles inland, the
Gullah/Geechee Nation is comprised of the descendants of Africans once
enslaved in the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire.
Salon Media Group, Inc
http://dir.salon.com/travel/advisor/2000/05/18/carolina/index.html
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The Sea Islands
?A direct link to the continent of Africa exists in the Sea Islands of
the United States. In the islands that are a part of South Carolina,
Georgia, and North Florida, Gullah and Geechee culture began during
the enslavement of African people in America.?
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/gg_his.htm
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"The sea islands of the South are a low-lying chain of sandy islands
off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Today the sea
islands retain a predominantly African American population that has
developed a distinct culture and dialect known as Gullah (or
Geechee)."
http://geechee.tv/ddnotes.html
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?The word Gullah itself is thought to be a derivative of Angola and
the Gola tribe. Geechee is a West African ethnic group.
Anthropologists generally classify those people living on the South
Carolina coast as Gullah and those living on the Georgia islands and
their mainland relatives as Geechee.?
beaufort.com
http://www.beaufortsc.com/afam.htm
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The Gullah/Geechee Culture
?The coastal islands off South Carolina and Georgia have harbored a
unique culture that originated with enslaved people brought primarily
from West Africa, first to work cotton plantations and then to develop
extensive rice crops. More isolated than their counterparts on the
mainland and, from the early 1800s on, greatly outnumbering their
often-absent white masters, the enslaved population maintained many
African traditions that form the foundation of today?s Gullah/Geechee
culture.?
?It is thought that the word Gullah itself derives from ?Angola? and
that Geechee is from a tribal name in Liberia.?
?The social order in many Gullah/Geechee communities is tightly woven,
based on African mores. Newly married couples move to the home of the
husband?s parents until they can build their own home on the property.
Thus the home may eventually house three generations or more at one
time.?
National Parks Conservation Society
http://www.npca.org/explore_the_parks/new_parks/gullahgeechee.asp
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The Gullah/Geechee Culture
Read about the history, language and traditions at the following link:
http://www.geocities.com/gullahpride/
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The Gullah Dialect and Sea Island Culture
"Geechee" -- another name for the language and culture of black Sea
Islanders -- comes from a tribal name in Liberia.
http://www.co.beaufort.sc.us/bftlib/gullah.htm
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Additional information can be found here:
http://www.co.beaufort.sc.us/bftlib/gullah2.htm
- Historical Background
- Social and Political Organization
- Marriage and Kinship
- Burial Customs
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THE GULLAH AREA
?The coastline from South Carolina to Northern Florida is home to an
estimated 300,000 Gullah people. The Sea Islands off the coast of
South Carolina ? among them Edisto Island, Coosaw Island, Daufuskie
Island, and St. Helena Island ? have provided Gullah roots of millions
to African Americans.?
PBS
http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/gullah.html
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The Gullah/Geechee culture flourished on the islands off the South
Carolina and Georgia coasts.
?Stretching along the southeastern coast roughly from the Cape Fear
River near the North Carolina/South Carolina line to the St. John's
River near the Georgia/Florida line, the Sea Islands area extends 30
miles inland and encompasses approximately 12,315 square miles, nearly
the size of the state of Maryland.?
?Gullah-Geechee people of today are descendants of enslaved Africans
from various ethnic groups of west and central Africa who were forced
to work on the plantations of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, North
Carolina, and Florida. The Gullah- Geechee people are survivors -
unique groups of African-Americans who lived near the coast and on
barrier islands that were separated from the mainland by creeks,
rivers, and marshes. Because of their geographic protection from
outsiders and strong sense of family and community, Gullah-Geechee
people maintained a separate creole language and developed distinct
culture patterns, which included more of the African cultural
tradition than African-American population in other parts of the
United States.?
http://fyicomminc.bizland.com/gaianews/speech15.htm
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There is a wealth of information available at the Gullah/Geechee Sea
Island Coalition Website
http://users.aol.com/queenmut/GullGeeCo.html
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From the American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition:
Geechee
NOUN: Coastal South Carolina and Georgia
1a. The Gullah creole.
b. A speaker of Gullah.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/99/G0069950.html
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Search terms used:
Carolina islands ?* people?
Geechee people
Geechee North South Carolina +Islands
Geechee sea islands
Thank you for your question and I hope this response has provided you
with the information you were seeking.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
