Hilton Head consists of only a few historic neighborhoods that represent the Gullah families that called them home for seven or more generations. Even though the majority of the communities are sprinkled around the northern tip of the island, culturally, boundaries didn’t exist when it came to the overall sense of community that was typical for the Gullah
Join Lowcountry Gullah every week to get a deeper dive into topics and information on culture, history and tradition.
Hosted weekly by Luana M. Graves Sellars, you’ll also get a chance to hear from guests from a variety of backgrounds who are knowledgeable keepers of the culture.
Georgetown County is full of an incredibly rich Gullah Geechee history and cultural attractions that I was very excited about exploring to fill in the gaps to my story.
The Brown family is unique, genealogically speaking, because their family tree has been traced back to 1825, before emancipation. Documenting this kind of information about a black family is truly rare. The Browns’ story reveals a rich history, and includes information and details that paint a clear and beautiful picture of this vibrant family for future generations to treasure.
This trip, however, unexpectedly and drastically has changed my perspective completely. So, imagine my mind blowing moment that I discovered that one of the most treasured aspects of the cities that I have enjoyed all of my life, had been quietly telling me the story behind its every foundations; of its development; its origins in being a water front port, and in the case of Savannah and Charleston, its clearly defined roll in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.
Remnants of captivity aren’t hard to find. One thing that the Atlantic Slave Trade demonstrated was that it was founded on economics and strategic captures. The enslaved were targeted and captured because they were highly skilled. Whether they were Mende rice farmers for the Lowcountry along the sea islands, who could engineer the intricate trunks that diked the waters or Ashanti builders for Savannah that knew construction, iron work or brick making, reminders of their incredible talents are not hard to find.
Yes, my perspectives on a lot of things have changed. How I see the world and my experiences within it are forever going to be different. As they should be. To see and understand what people have gone through, over time, enslaved or otherwise is part of the human experience. No one should walk away unchanged.
By Luana M. Graves Sellars Christmas is a world-wide tradition, yet in the Gullah community,
The true mark of kindness and humility is found in someone who doesn’t even recognize the impact that they have on the people around them. That’s how Betty Days has always lived her life. Raised in the Gullah culture as part of a community that when one has, all has, for Betty, the act of doing for one another just comes naturally.
aditions that the Gullah maintained within the church might not continue to be consistently followed, it doesn’t mean that they are forgotten. One such African tradition is of the ring shout. In a time when slaves did not have access to instruments, the ability to make music or a beat was made from their using objects found close by or in most cases, their bodies. Drums were made from whatever raw materials that were available.
