Charleston Black Heritage

Gullah & Geechee

Descendants of the slaves that worked in South Carolina's rice plantations, the Gullah people are a distinctive group of African Americans that live in the Coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia. They speak an English based Creole language that retains many elements of African language and culture. At least 100,000 people continue to speak Gullah today.

Through many generations, the Gullah (Geechee) people have held fast to their African cultural heritage more so than any other African-American group. This is due to their largely isolated community life as slaves. Seclusion between the Gullah slaves and their masters was promoted because of the highly contagious tropical diseases that existed in the slave community.

A culmination of language, rituals, customs, music, and crafts from various African tribes is the foundation upon which the Gullah people thrive today. Although they are no longer an isolated group, they continue to view themselves as a divergent community.

Examples of the Gullah language:

    chillun (translation: children)
    'leb'n (translation: eleven)
    mout' (translation: mouth)
    box-up (translation: closed tightly).

Examples of the Gullah language formed in a sentence:
    'e mout' all box-up! (Translation: His mouth has a sullen expression.)
    De chillun full'up wid baa'beque. (Translation: The children filled their stomachs up with barbecue.)
Gullah Culinary Traditions

Hoe cake - a pan bread made out of a dough consisting of either corn meal or flour mixed with salt and water, and usually cooked in a greased iron skillet. The name comes from the tradition of cooking the bread on a greased hoe blade over an open fire.

Sugar tea water - water sweetened with sugar. It was very common during the 20th century to drink beverages from a Mason, jam or jelly jar. Mason jars are used for canning and preserving.

Perlo - a one-pot meal of rice with a vegetable and/or meat, traditionally seasoned with pork. Shrimp perlo, okra perlo and fish perlo are popular favorites. Rice was a major cash crop from the late 17th century until the Civil War, and it has continued to be a major Southern food staple.

Swimp 'n grits - shrimp is simmered in a brown gravy that's usually seasoned with pork and served over grits. This dish can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Most Gullah/Geechees consider grits to be a must-have for breakfast and rice a must for dinner.

Gullah Medicinal Traditions

Spider webs have been used like bandages, to stop bleeding.

Sassafras tea is boiled out of the plant's roots and is used as a tonic and as a cold remedy. Extract from the bark is commonly used in the food industry as a flavoring for food, soft drinks and toiletry products like mouthwash and toothpaste.

Life everlasting, also called Life Alasses, is an herb that's prepared into a hot tea for a very popular cold remedy. The plant is illegal in South Carolina because it is said to have an intoxicating effect if one smokes it.

The stamp is a small piece of brown paper that is licked lightly and placed at the center of a baby's forehead to eliminate hiccups.

Gullah Folkways and Beliefs

  • Fish won't bite during the full moon because their mouths hurt.
  • Any hair left in one's comb or brush should be burned or flushed down the toilet.
  • Horse or mule shoes can be hung above the front door for good luck, but they should be placed to look like the letter "u" so that the household's luck doesn't run out.
  • It's bad luck to cut out a pattern for sewing on Fridays.

Gullah Spiritual Customs
  • Ladies should not go to church without covering their heads.
  • Babies and toddlers are passed over the closed casket of a relative at the burial to keep the deceased's spirit from bothering the child.
  • The tops of gravesites were at one time decorated with the possessions of the deceased.
  • No work should be done on Sunday. Most of Sunday's dinner would be prepared on Saturday.

Compiled by Alada Shinault-Small for the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

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2006