GEECHIE IS AS GEECHIE DOES

Geechie is as Geechie Does

Geechie is as Geechie Does

The Gullah/Geechie are African Americans who live in the Low Country region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. (Carney, 2001) Historically, the Gullah/Geechie region once extended north to the Cape Fear area on the coast of North Carolina and south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on the coast of Florida; but today the Gullah/Geechie area is confined to the South Carolina and Georgia Low Country. The Gullah/Geechie people are also called Geechee, after the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia. (Miller, 1995) The term Geechee is more common in Georgia than in South Carolina.

The name "Gullah/Geechie" may derive from Angola where many of the Gullah/Geechies' ancestors originated. Some scholars have also suggested it comes from Gola, an ethnic group living in the border area between Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa, another region where many of the Gullah/Geechies' ancestors originated. The name "Geechee," another common name for the Gullah/Geechie people, may come from Kissi (pronounced "geezee"), an ethnic group living in the border area between Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Some scholars have also suggested Native American origins for these words. The Spanish called the South Carolina and Georgia coastal region Guale after a Native American tribe, and the Ogeechee River, a prominent geographical feature in coastal Georgia, takes its name from a Creek Indian word. Regardless of the origins of these names, though, it is clear that Gullah/Geechie language and culture have strong connections to the African continent. (Smith, 2005)

Many scholars believe that Gullah/Geechie arose independently in South Carolina and Georgia in the 18th and 19th centuries when African slaves on rice plantations developed their own creole language combining features of the English they encountered in America with the West and Central African languages they brought with them on the middle passage. According to this view, Gullah/Geechie is an independent development in North America. (Fields-Black, 2008)

But other scholars maintain that some of the slaves brought to South Carolina and Georgia already knew Guinea Coast Creole English (also called West African Pidgin English) before they left Africa. Guinea Coast Creole English was spoken along the West African coast during the 18th century as a language of trade between Europeans and Africans and between Africans of different tribes. It was used especially in British coastal slave trading centers like James Island, Bunce Island, Elmina Castle, Cape Coast Castle, and Anomabu. (Carney, 2001)

These two theories are not necessarily mutually exclusive, though. While it is very likely that some of the Gullah/Geechies' ancestors did come from Africa with a working knowledge of Guinea Coast Creole English, it is clear that most slaves taken to America did not have prior experience with a creole language in Africa. It is also clear that the Gullah/Geechie language evolved in unique circumstances in coastal South Carolina and Georgia and acquired its own distinctive form in that new environment. (Pollitzer, 1999)

Celebrating Gullah/Geechie culture

Over the years, the Gullah/Geechies have ...