Where To Go Next for Thursday, February 14

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February: Gullah Month

Long before its independence, America has had hidden pockets of a bygone African culture, rich in native history, with a language of its own, and long associated with beguiling talents in the arts, music, cooking, weaving, and entertainment, with rich endowments in language, design, health, agriculture, fishing, hunting, and family traditions.

With a direct link to the African continent, an almost lost culture exists in the Sea Islands of the United States, the “Gullah Corridor,” stretching from the northeast coast of Florida along the Georgia and South Carolina coastal shores to the lower reaches of North Carolina.

While thousands of articles and hundreds of books have been written about native-American cultures and Indian lore, the Gullah culture and its companion culture, the Geechee, have been almost totally overlooked, a puzzling fact, since the Gullah peoples are noted for their festivals, music, dancing, art, foods, recipes, crafts – the very things that interest tourists and travelers.

Since February is Gullah Culture Month, early spring travelers might consider a visit to this pocket of fascinating culture.



To open a door to the remarkable world of the Gullah and its potential for travelers, just flip through the pages of the first major book on this subject from a consumer point of view: Gullah Culture in America, by Wilbur Cross, author of at least 50 other non-fiction books. With a Foreword by one of the most noted Gullahs in the Sea Islands and Lowcountry, Dr. Emory Campbell, this new, thoroughly researched book explores what very few have had a chance to experience.

As Cross describes it, the homogeneity, richness and consistency of this culture was made possible by generations of isolation from other peoples and cultures. They maintained their heritage, language, and traditions, unlike other peoples of African and foreign lineage who came to America and over the years blended in with other cultures.

Today there are more than 300,000 Gullah people, many of whom speak little or no English and are still isolated, living in the remoter areas of the sea islands, like St. Helena, Edisto, Coosaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo, Daufuskie, and Cumberland.

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