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Delve into the rich heritage of Gullah culture and its traditional basket weaving practices, connecting the past to the present.
Gullah
The Gullah culture has a complex history and language with direct links to West Africa that survived slavery and continues to thrive on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia.
In the past, people have described the Gullah culture as quaint and the language as unintelligible. A closer look reveals a complex history and language with direct links to West Africa that survived slavery and thrived on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah experience has many variables that make it unique to each family and community.
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In this video, Nina shares personal accounts of her own life as a Gullah Geechee woman who grew up in Charleston, SC. Students who are not familiar with the Gullah Geechee Culture can experience...
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In this video, Nina uses various forms of kinesthetic/bodily movement to emphasize the history of The Gullah Geechee Culture & the Gullah Geechee Heritage Act. This activity will help students...
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In this video Nina uses dance as a form of teaching and learning for students and teachers to understand the origins of the Gullah Geechee Culture of South Carolina.
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When you look at the scenery of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, it’s hard not to admire its beauty and wildlife. Also native to this region, is one of South Carolina's most unique group of people... the...
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Penn Center is one of the most significant African American historical and cultural institutions in existence today. The historic campus is located on St. Helena Island, one of the most beautiful and...
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After becoming Penn Community Center in 1953, the institution began to focus on social issues affecting the well-being of the native islanders. This expanded to African Americans as a whole in the...
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The Penn Center, formerly the Penn School, was founded on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, by Northern abolitionist missionaries. The school was created to educate freed people, and was one of the...
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A circular dance called the "Ring Shout" was a part of Gullah-Geechee Christian worship services for many years.
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Scholars have located a song linking a family from Georgia to the village of Senehun Ngola in Sierra Leone. Linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner traveled to Georgia in 1931 to hear people speaking and singing...
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Nakia Wigfall is a seventh generation Gullah basket maker from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Wigfall travels to Sierra Leone with a mission to make sweetgrass baskets with the other local residents...
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In the city of Kabala, in Sierra Leone, residents speak their native tongue, as well as a Creole language called "Krio," which is similar in many ways to the Gullah language spoken by the Gullah...
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Freetown was founded by formerly enslaved people, many of them from South Carolina and Georgia. Their first attempt to establish an African colony in 1787 failed, but in 1792, more than a thousand...
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With the ending of the civil war in Sierra Leone, the next generation looks to the future with hopes of rebuilding their country, and getting educations. These inspiring young Sierra Leoneans are also...
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From 1617 to the abolishment of the English slave trade in 1807, Bunce Island was the last glimpse of home for tens of thousands of enslaved Africans. Today, only ruins remain, as a testament to the...
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Rice is a staple food of Sierra Leone. Rice is not only a favorite dish of Sierra Leoneans and the Gullah-Geechee, but it is also a part of their history. A dike system for cultivating rice worked...
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Henrietta Snype, from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, is a world-renowned sweetgrass basket-weaver. Taught by both her mother and her grandmother, Snype has been creating sweetgrass basket art ever...
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A Cultural Hearth The success of Barbados, Carolina, America, the New World for that matter is coterminous with slavery. The labor, the technology, the ingenuity, and the culture that supported this...
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From Whence They Came Gullah is the blending of all the cultures that came together during that horrible time in human history called the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The connection between Barbados and...
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Anita Singleton-Prather grew up thinking she would study law and become a civil rights attorney. Instead she became a master storyteller, author and educator. Her work has influenced civil rights and...
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"G" is for Grosvenor, Vertamae (1938-2016). Writer, culinary anthropologist. A native of Allendale County, Grosvenor moved with her family to Philadelphia when she was ten. After high school she lived...
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Sam Doyle, from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, is able to capture the Gullah community, and represent who they are in his paintings.
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Reverend Johnnie Simmons, another lowcountry artist, uses paint, wood burning techniques, and the Gullah language to tell stories in his artworks.
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Emory Campbell is a community leader on Saint Helena's Island, SC. This is his full interview from the SCETV documentary "Sea Change." Questions addressed in this video include: What would the effect...
Related Series
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Gullah Roots dives deep into South Carolina’s ties with West Africa, educating viewers about Gullah heritage, including spiritual, musical and artistic traditions.
GullahNet
GullahNet along with its host, Aunt Pearlie Sue (Anita Singleton-Prather), was designed to introduce Gullah culture and language to children on the web.
Connections
Connections was SCETV's weekly public affairs program about issues that affect the South Carolina minority population.