9 Interesting Facts About the Origins, Culture and People of the Gullah-Geechee

9 Interesting Facts About the Origins, Culture and People of the Gullah-Geechee

Many of the current inhabitants originated from the Windward Coast in Africa along the Atlantic. There has been decades of intense research, which has led historians to believe that many people are from the Gola, Kissi, Mende, Temne, Twi and Vai ethnic groups. Elders in the corridor believed that the terms “Gullah” and “Geechee” may have originated from the two cultural groups Golas and Gizzis. These two groups are near present-day Liberia. The current inhabitants have managed to keep their cultural West African roots for 300-plus years.

The term “Gullah” applies to the name of the islanders living in South Carolina, while “Geechee” refers to inhabitants on the islands along the coast of Georgia. Present-day historians and researchers say the region stretches from Sandy Island, South Carolina, to Amelia Island, Florida, as the Gullah Coast or the Gullah Corridor.

European slave owners captured and enslaved West African people in order to till their rice plantations along the eastern coast. The wealth acquired from this continuous rice cultivation brought millions to slave plantations operating in this region. While the enslaved west Africans brought their skills and were taken advantage of, they reaped no rewards. Now, the Gullah and Geechee fight for their land as tourism explodes.