Gullah Cultural Legacies, Second Edition: A Synopsis of Gullah Traditions, Customary Beliefs, Artforms and Speech on Hilton Head Island and Vicinal Sea Islands in South Carolina and Georgia. This item is unavailable.Gullah Cultural Legacies, Second Edition: A Synopsis of Gullah Traditions, Customary Beliefs, Artforms and Speech on Hilton Head Island and Vicinal Sea Islands in South Carolina and Georgia

This book contains significant cultural words and terms of the Gullah Culture. It is an attempt to promote a better understanding of past traditions and present day practices in preventing permanent loss of memory of those terms that are truly Gullah. Most of the terms are currently used in the everyday vocabulary of Gullah speakers, while others have fallen into disuse but have been recalled for inclusion in this work. The content of this book is based entirely on my experience of growing up Gullah on Hilton Head Island in the mid 20th century before the Island was connected by a bridge to the mainland. Life on Hilton Head Island between the 1860s and the 1960s was a unique, cultural experience when compared to mainland lifestyle during the same period. The culture that thrived on Hilton Head and other Coastal Islands in the region had its beginning on the West Coast of Africa. Before being imported to the Sea Islands during the despicable slave trade period between the 1500’s and early 1800s, West Africans not only survived, they thrived - spiritually, intellectually, and physically - mainly because family members and families bonded to one another. After slavery, a close- knit community evolved with these basic qualities already in place drawing on each separately and collectively as time moved from period to period. Throughout the history of Gullah culture, place has been important - whether it was the huge oak tree in the forest where a "young soul" went to meditate while "seeking" or the "landing" where a fisherman kept his or her "bateau" so it would float appropriately when the tide was right to "go casting." The Gullah language, perhaps more than any other cultural asset, has allowed Gullah people to remain one big family. It has kept us intellectual, esoteric and protected. Yet it has been so attractive to others that the entire culture has reached the larger world. Like with all cultures, food grounds the Gullah culture