Gullah Geechee (A Guide): Web Resources

The Gullah and Geechee culture on the Sea Islands of Georgia has retained ethnic traditions from West Africa since the mid-1700s. Although the islands along the southeastern U.S. coast harbor the same collective of West Africans, the name Gullah has come to be the accepted name of the islanders in South Carolina, while Geechee refers to the islanders of Georgia. Modern-day researchers designate the region stretching from Sandy Island, South Carolina, to Amelia Island, Florida, as the Gullah Coast—the locale of the culture that built some of the richest plantations in the South.

The Gullah/Geechee Nation exist from Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, FL. It encompasses all of the Sea Islands and thirty to thirty-five miles inland to the St. John’s River. On these islands, people from numerous African ethnic groups linked with indigenous Americans and created the unique Gullah language and traditions from which later came “Geechee.”

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Area and it was established by the U.S. Congress to recognize the unique culture of the Gullah Geechee people who have traditionally resided in the coastal areas and the sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Visit us to learn more about Gullah Geechee people and a unique, world culture.

Gullah Geechee culture is an important thread of our American fabric. So much so that in 2006, the U.S. Congress designated the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor -- which extends from Wilmington, NC in the North to St. Augustine, FL in the South. It is home to one of America's most unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans that were enslaved and brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued their traditions in later generations by their descendants.

Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, N.C. in the north to Jacksonville, FL in the south. It is home to a remarkable American culture known today as Gullah/Geechee, which reaches back into the seventeenth century. This is a tradition that was first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from Central and West Africa who were forced to labor on plantations. They developed a new language with Caribbean, European, American, and African influences. Africans kept their traditions and over time reshaped those practices by incorporating elements of Southeastern culture.

Akua Page's goal is to preserve and pass down as much history as possible so that her culture, which has survived for hundreds of years, can keep going.

The Gullah Geechee peoples of Coastal Georgia are descendants of enslaved Africans from plantations along the lower Atlantic coast. Many came from the rice-growing region of West African and were brought to the Americas for their agricultural and architectural knowledge and skills. The enslaved Africans were isolated on the Sea Islands. This isolation enabled them to create and maintain a unique culture steeped in remnants of Africa. This culture became known as Gullah-Geechee and is visible in the people’s distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, use of waterways, music, dance, and language.

The Gullah Geechee culture has been around since the start of America, and in fact, helped build the nation. Today, those part of the distinct group of Gullah people with deep roots back to Africa are working hard to preserve their culture.