What's that you say about the 'Old Slave Mart'

When I was a kid I always tripped out when granny and I would ride by the old slave mart.  She would always get a little more silent when riding by.  She would always patiently answer my many questions.  "Granny did they slaves live there?, Where are the slaves now, Did you know the slaves, Why didn't they just run, Why were white people so mean, Did the mommies find their babies?" And the questions continued until life, ancestor recants and education collided (not public education either).  

As a child I just couldn't grasp that ACTUALLY happened and my great greats and my great Grandma Alice who was still living at that time experienced such devastation.  My Grandma Alice would suck ee teet and say "all dishea uz a slave mart! Disya jus wun mr. Charlie dun forgot baby"  Too much for a free brown child to truly grasp.  Even more deep that there was/is a tangible substance right there. It was almost like the "mommy where is God" question and next thing you know mommy is saying "just know God is here and real" i.e. please be quiet baby and stop all the questions.  Ha!

Charleston has many remnants of slavery and the horror of the old south.  I honestly believe what we call hauntings are really our ancestors' spirits whispering to us so that we live in forward motion, but never sever our roots.  As each generation is born and raised, whether you are in Charleston, SC, Georgia, Virginia or any parts of the south and/or USA,  whether you are geechee/Gullah and/or just salt of the earth people we have to teach the younger ones how real that era was and why some of the discussions and fights continue with black folks today.  

Listen, Charleston SC and Georgia are extremely great areas to start researching slavery history.  My children are trying to understand why mommy have an accent and why I pronounce words like I do most of the time  (even though living in Ca. I've learned the Cali accent as well and shru a gud edcashun and a demanding mama I can and do speak what most consider proper English most times.  Howeva mi Gullah tongue is way more fun and comfy mi mowt).  Don't judge me. 

 Anyhoo, I challenge you in 2013, to do something to get closer to your history/roots.  Many of you have raw history just a phone call away.  All these holidays, family dinners and reunions can be the juice you need.  I guarantee you once you start asking questions, the next thing you know you are knee deep in history and on the phone or Internet with www.ancenstry.com.  Go for it my people and share your findings with people of all races!  Django shouldn't be the rut (root) of 20th & 21st century learnings for non African Americans.  It may be a great talking point but not the RUT.

That's why when I hear about Gullah land being taken by local government for less substantial money making projects lets me know that black history is STILL not valued in America.  That like our ancestors' skin, limbs and history, it can still be bought and sold without a second thought.  just a matter of "all in favor say yea or nea?"  And unfortunately because we do not vote in our local elections like we should, raise cane, write letters, get signatures etc. we fall by the wayside.  And I do mean WE.  

*Not taking away any credit from our Gullah and historian foot soldiers that are and have been in the trenches for us already.  Thank you so much, much honor and respect!*

My people, let's get these janky #%*#?! politicians out of office.  Trust when I say, they will listen and change their views once you tell them "I am not voting for you sir/ma'am because you do not have my community's best interest in mind buh bye!"   Go to city council meetings and donate to renovations of our historical buildings, libraries etc.  We need our grand and great grand babies to have resources and not pictures in a book to know the who, what, where and whys.  Especially my beloved Gullah people.

I'm linking a wonderful detailed story on the historical Slave Mart -

Pentherapee getting off her soap box and wishing you a blessed, safe, prosperous 2013!  And thank all of you for supporting  

moregeechee.blogspot.com!!!!!!  Now get them peas & rice goin

Charlestonlowcpuntry.com/oldslavemart

Tracing our orgins

I use to hear stories about the Bermuda triangle growing up and wondered why my grandmother would always talk about Bermuda. As I got older I discovered that some of our ancestors may have come from there. Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean located off the East Coast of the United States. It is said that our ancestors were taken from Bermuda and brought the United States as slaves and that's where part of our accent comes from. In the seventy-five years from the beginning of the 18th century to the declaration of independence, more than forty percent of the Africans arriving in the British North Americans Colonies were quarantined and processed in coastal islands off Georgia and South Carolina.We were brought here with our ancestry in tack with our traditions and story telling ways. Researching our history starts with us tracing our history and knowing who our ancestors were and how did we end up on the coast lines of South Carolina. A great place to start our research would be Ancestry.com   and to talk to some of the older people in your family. Knowing where we come from is important so that we can answer questions like where did we develop our accent, why do we love rice so much, why are we so strong and different than regular African Americans. 

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I started researching my history a couple of years ago but I got stuck in the early 1900's. I guess with no records being kept it was hard to trace where we come from. For my family I know that my great great grandmother was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania she never came down south nor was she born a slave now her mother was but escaped north before she was born. When I did my research it seems that my great great great grandmother was a slave and she originally came from the Bermudas. Now was she originally brought here on the slave ships I have no idea but I do know that she was of Bermuda origins. I know her first name but don't know her last and can't find any records beyond what I know. Most of my info came from my grandmother before she passed. As a young girl she would tell me stories but when she got older she got Alzheimer's so the stories and history stopped. 

Now my grandfather I was able to trace him a few years back pretty good and discovered his father was an Indian. Now I know most of us have family that say they are part Indian and I do give the side eye but my great grandfather was a true indian and married a black women and they had my grandfather. I thought that was interesting considering my grandfather did have that good hair lol. 

 Have you traced your history as of yet? Do you know where your family came from?

Blue Bottle Tree

      

The blue bottle tree is another one of those southern tradition that many people don't know the complete history of.  Having a blue bottle tree in the yard is a old Gullah/Geechee custom. The trees are used to capture evil haints for getting into one's home. The haints are lured inside the bottle by light reflected thru the blue bottle at dusk. Once the haints are inside the bottle they are trapped. What happens to them are up for debate. Some say that they are trapped in the bottles forever, and the noise you hear are the haints moaning, and crying. Others say that once the sun rises the haints are vaporized by the sun's light. 

Today, people use different color bottles, but blue was the choosen by the Gullah/Geechee people for a reason. The Gullah/Geechees used blue because of their belief that the color blue wards off evil spirits. 

Do you know anyone with a blue bottle tree in their yard?

 

Who dat da shroh dat rice? Dat rice fa we da eat...

It is so true that if that's all you know it seems normal.  Chile I eat rice with most things southern.  Let's see we have red rice, okra & rice, greens & rice...RICE RICE RICE.  So of course here in California when I would eat at other folks home I always asked "where's the rice" a brief silence would fall then they would say "o' we don't eat rice with this or that". Ha! And Hunna look at them just as fool as they would look at me.  Check this out, once I became a fixture in my husband's family, mind you a traditional Alabama southern family it would kill them how I made a small pot of white rice for our southern feast...funny thing though, everyone I've introduced to the idea has lalalalaluved it! Now listen...I get it. In a society where we clearly understand white bread, white rice, white sugar WHITE  WHITE WHITE is a big no no.... I guess thats payback because black cat, black magic...you get it?  Usually anything black is associated with negativity so now its the color white turn (teehee).  Anyhoo, I blv all things in moderation is fine and this is why,  brown rice is uuuuggghhhhhh!  Baaaaaby nature can keep she brown rice!!!!  I've tried it every whicha way and I'm sorry it taste like bark and tree leaves with a dash of dirt (yep I said it)!  Don't you dare ruin my fine southern Gullah cuisines with y'all's brown rice...

Now just to give you a lil background on how tightly bound we (geechee people) are to rice, in the 1700s white plantation owners promptly paid more for Afrikaans from west Africa in the rice growing regions like Sierra Leone.  In fact west Afrikaans were the largest group imported into South Carolina and Georgia coastlines.   Also Gullah people are direct descendants of true Afrikkan rice laborers.  Truly RICE intertwines Gullah people and the people of Sierra Leone together just like white on rice (pun intended).  American colonists (da white people) figured out quickly that rice grew well in moist areas and the southern coastlines, specifically South Carolina was perfect rice land due to its semi tropical earth.  Dem boy bun smart.  I guess when you have to eat you rather know how to plant food rather than wait on someone to feed ya!  

Anyway I love seeing portraits with women carrying woven baskets on their heads, baby on their back and a Gullah song on ee lip thinking about how good their rice wus gonna go with the scraps given to them, which is now considered a southern cuisine (side eye) and/or the fruits of their own labor (what little they had).  Our sea islands are truly the 'salt of the earth'. I couldn't be apart if a better culture/people.  The more I learn the more in love I become.  We deep init? 

Story by PT 

Refer to Africanheritage.com for additional information on "The Rice People"

Seafood

Charleston, SC is where some of the Geechee people live. We love rice but something else that we love just as much as we love rice is our seafood. Growing up I was surrounded by water so it was natural that we caught our own seafood or bought them from docks instead of the grocery store. I remember Friday's being flounder and red rice day. Flounder came fresh from the docks right from the waters we live around. There is nothing like fresh seafood and the taste is very different. Crab boils were a staple with corn and sausage mixed in and don't let me speak about the shrimp we use to eat like they were candy.

It's so hard to find good seafood if you live inland. I am now living right outside of Atlanta,GA and I can ever find that fresh seafood. Sure the stores have them but they just don't taste the same. I am so use to my seafood being fresh and from the coast that I just am not satisfied. The best place to find seafood when you live inland is the farmers market. They have the best blue crabs and they are the only place I can find flounder not the filet kind but the one with the skin on it.

Some of my favorite seafood dishes
Flounder and red rice
Seafood lasagna
Po Boys
Lowcountry Gumbo
Shrimp and Grits
Sardines with Grits

If you are ever in Charleston, SC make sure you visit one of the best restaurants that sell seafood. Hymans Seafood 

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Georgetown Ghosts

Georgetown is recognized as the third oldest city in South Carolina, though this is argued as the Spanish settled the area in the early 16^th century, thus making it one of the oldest cities in the New World. If you are from Charleston, SC you have know we refer to Georgetown as the Ghost town because there are many stories of Ghosts that still linger. I will tell you one of my favorites the rest you can find at http://southernspiritguide.blogspot.com/2011/08/ghosts-of-georgetown-south-carolina.html

Among the oldest homes in Georgetown, the Cleland House was built in 1737 and has seen a whole panoply of American history, some of it even passing over its thresholds. Among the notable visitors to this house are German Generals von Steuben and de Kalb; French General Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who all aided the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and American Vice President Aaron Burr. The home was originally built facing the Sampit River, but later on the front door was placed facing Front Street.

The story behind this house reads very much like an old fashioned ghost story. Anne Withers, possibly related to John Withers who is listed on the historical marker in front of the house as one of the owners, had fallen in love with a dashing sea captain. After one of his voyages he returned to Georgetown and presented his fiancée, Anne, with a rare gift, an ancient Egyptian bracelet. The bracelet featured a series of scarabs, stylistic representations of dung beetles which symbolize the heavenly cycle of life. The blushing bride saved the bracelet to wear with her wedding dress. On her wedding day, she placed the bracelet on her wrist and carried on with her other preparations. Just as she was about to descend the staircase, the bride let out a scream and collapsed, dead.

When her family rushed to her side, blood was dripping from underneath the bracelet. When it was removed, the scarabs were found to have tiny legs that had dug into the bride’s pale flesh. The heartbroken sea captain left Georgetown soon after and in London had the bracelet examined by a chemist. The chemist discovered that the legs on the scarabs had been rigged to open by the warmth from human skin and each leg contained poison that would be injected into the hapless victim. He surmised the bracelet had been made to afflict the person who stole the artifact from a tomb. Ever since Anne Withers’ wedding day death, her form, still wearing nuptial white has been seen in the garden of the Cleland House. 

Do you believe in ghosts? Well if you want to see some I suggest taking a trip to Georgetown, SC.....Halloween would be ideal....*insert loud ghostly laugh*

Gullah/Geechee Folklore: Boo Hag

Geechee Folklore: Boo Hag

  The Geechee/Gullah people are full of beliefs and traditions. One of those beliefs is of the legend of the Boo Hag. The Boo Hag is an evil spirit that uses someone's skin to move among people unnoticed. Without the stolen skin, The Boo Hag is red,and is very warm to the touch. Once night falls, they shed, and hide the skin. Boo Hags are said to hide their skin under porch steps, and under beds. Boo Hags can enter a person's house through the smallest of openings. Once the Boo Hag is inside they sit on the victim's chest and steals their breath. This is known as "ridin'". Boo Hag doesn't kill the person that they ride, because it can come back over, and over again to steal the person's breath, which is how it sustains itself. The Boo Hag rides it's victim all night, and before the sun comes up the Boo Hag has to return to it's skin because it can't survive without skin in the daytime.


 Legend has it that there are warning signs that a Boo Hag might be near. The warning signs are the air will feel damp, and hot, and will smell as if something is rotting. There are a few ways to help prevent a visit from Boo Hag including putting a loaded gun across the head of the bed, as a Boo Hag doesn't like that smell of gunpowder. The Boo Hag is quite nosey so it stops and count things. You can use a brush, or put salt near the bed. The most commonly used way to prevent a Boo Hag from ridin' you is to place a broom by a door, or near you when you sleep so it stops and count the straws until dawn, when it needs to return to it's skin. Since it an evil spirit, using haint blue also helps. It's said that if you wake up in the morning, after having a full night's rest feeling exhausted, there is a chance that you have been visited by Boo Hag. 

Boo Hag story from The Moonlit Road 

Who dat geechee uz

                                         

On the high of Barak Obama being relected I can't help but give a shout out to who I want to be THE GEECHEE of the week... Drum roll please....Ms. JOANNA JENKINS the 108 years old resident of SC, Beaufort county.  I'm not sure if she is geechee or have geechee ties but we gwine claim she because she from SC!   Mrs. Jenkins has never voted before partly because she was illiterate.  

(Side note) please see the importance of education.  Now ABSOLUTELY NO DISRESPECT to the wonderful  Ms. Jenkins she grew up in a much different time and her circumstances were on a level that the vast majority of us would not ever be able to understand.  However, a family member made it very clear that the lack of a basic education was a key component to her not EVER voting until now.   So def know how a lack of a basic education can hold you back from your privileges and/or rights!

Ok back to the good stuff...What a treat to be able to live your last days seeing the 1st AA president get voted in and contributing to his re-election!!!!!  That's what I'm talking about Ms. Jenkins I want to ride it out with a bang bang bang bang!  God has spared her a long life to vote, still has a smile on her face, and all her faculties at least as much as you are going to have at 108 years old.  My grandpa is 94years old and I love and handle him with so much TLC because of his journey and how it beat him up but never broke him.  That's something we will probably never see again in our people.  They just don't make them like that no more!  So kudos, prayer & blessings, horn blowers, hugs and kisses to all our elderly who have participated in our election process whether it's your 1st time or 80th you are the reason OBAMA is POTUS... 

Blowing you kisses Ms. Jenkins **muah**xoxoxos

Did ya knoh...

Hi geechie fam!  It's Pentherapee!  And I got some "did ya know" news today.

Ahhhh let's see...Charleston, SC, beautiful cobblestone streets, historical, stature, strong southern ties and of course the original home of the Gullah people in the unites states.  AND HOME TO ONE OF THE UGLIEST, BORING, UNEVENTFUL, SMALL AIRPORTS (sigh) LOL!

I have been through CHS airport enough to have a room there, but considering Charleston is one of the top tourist vacation spots and not too shabby on the ideal place to retire for some, also Charleston and most surrounding cities and counties have loot...you knoh moolah, slave money, that green, old money, chedda shall keep going or you got it?.  Our airport should be state of the art!  So needless to say I bun too happy when jet blue started flying there because they are truly a really nice airline and CHS deserves some upgrades and jet blue was a nice touch.  

Moving on, so how excited I bun when I read about the 150,000,000  well deserved airport renovations!!!!! Whoohooooo!!!!  They even had a groundbreaking ceremony and everyTing.  The State representative Chip Limehouse stated, and I quote "it's a final piece of the puzzle missing from a world class city" .  I mean come on...this long overdue.  This is not old sowt tis uz definitely NEW sowt.  And as air travel increases people are spending way more time and money in the sky,  and Americans are spoiled, cheap and bourgeois (even tho' bourgeois just means middle class) we want champagne travel on a beer budget lol!  I go into some airports and dang near don't want to leave.  I should've just bun an air waitress aka flight attendant because I love everyting bowt traveling especially flying.  I truly get a high soon as mi foots enter any airport.  And I'm not the only wun that shares that high, on any given day at any given airport it will reflect my belief.  

Now to bring luxury, beauty, amenities, organization to a well deserved city/county deserves an applause (and the crowd roarrrrrrrs).   ok, I'm not crazy enough to think that I will not be paying the cost somewhere in all of this but if I'm going to pay make it well worth it.  And my experience has always bun the bigger the airport like a LAX actually comes with lower fees.   I tend to believe it is a fact because it's no wonder big airports stay busier and my ticket is always 50-100$ cheaper so  driving an extra 20-30 min to LAX rather than paying for the convenience of going to the 2 smaller/private airports closer to me is worth it for me and mines.  Mr.  Limehouse went on to say "the goal is to be a #1 airport".  WOW so befitting for CHS.  

Now most my people are still down south, majority still in West Ashley, Mt. Pleasant and Charleston so they very well drive whenever they're going to GA, NC, NY etc. but the few of us that are spread out take enjoyment in flying coast to coast.  To be able to shop (and not just for a rusty coffee mug, overpriced t-shirt or an outdated dusty book) and to be able to dine from a sports bar to fine dining is so great, because let's face it layovers and delayed flights are apart of flying just like wudda and eh it will be so nice to make it an experience in mi own hometown.  So I vote yes!  I believe money well spent.  

Story by PT

Chip Limehouse exerts from abcnews4.com

Benne Wafers

 One of the many things that the Gullah/Geechee brought over with them from Africa was the benne seed, more commonly know as the sesame seed. Using this seed, slaves would often make a thin cookie called the benne wafer. The Gullah/Geechee people believe eating benne wafers bring good luck.

Recipe:  
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter 
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together. Then mix with other ingredients in the order given above. Drop with a teaspoon onto a well-greased cookie pan, far enough apart to allow spreading while baking. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 7-10 minutes

 

-SB

What in ee pot?

                                                         

                                       RED RICE in ee pot!

Who knew adding tomato paste to white rice a lil bacon and link sausage oh and occasionally shrump (you fancy huh?) would turn into such a delicious meal? I'll tell you who knew...geechee people knew!!! Stand up (in my Ludacris voice). It's funny when I explain it here in Cali they sum it up to Spanish rice. Well no disrespect to my Spanish brothers and sisters but uhhhhhh I ain neva tasted Spanish rice like disya. Oh and did I mention the steamer we have been known to swear by from the ace hardware sto'. Don't worry we'll pick that back up later.

Anyhoo, I can remember my granny Florence closing the kitchen door (yessss the original chasstun homes had doors to their kitchens) I would peek in and see that steamer going and that cast iron frying up that fush and she would shro in some string beans. Boi ya tawkin bout gud? Dasum gud eatin richea. All the seasonings blend together sooooo gud. Fortunately I come from a family where dey wus all great cooks! I guess you had to be because eat out food was not lunch or dinner it was a treat. Something you got every now & again. Like getting out of Ebenezer AME mid week church service late (because I stayed up in church) so you got church's chicken to go with ya leftovers. Oh shux where was I...that's right red rice! Anyway chile, that's still a staple in my household. Even tho' I never think it taste as gud as my elders and mi fush never fry up right but it mainly comes from mi heart...yassssssum the heart of a geechee gal

*there is a slight difference between me & mi elders. I exercise 30min a day as often as possible, no less than 3-4 days a week. Famous words of Trina Braxton "Keep it cute or put it on mute"

Story by, PT

Haint Blue: The REAL reason porches have blue ceilings.

The REAL reason  porches have blue ceilings.

In Gullah/Geechee tradition the color blue is used to keep evil
spirits away. The Gullah/Geechee call those evil spirits, Haints. The
practice was brought over from Africa during the slavery. The legend
of the Haint is they can't cross water, so because slaves couldn't
build motes around their houses, they would use a watery mixture of
blue around the openings of their homes. They hoped that the blue
mixture would confuse the Haints into thinking the paint was water.
During slavery, Haint Blue was made in pits, dug in the yard, using
limes, buttermilk, and indigo. The practice of using blue paint on houses still
goes on today, especially in the South. If you've traveled to places such as Charleston, SC or
Savannah, Ga you may have noticed that porch ceilings, shutters, and
the trim on houses are often blue. 

Picture Source: http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com

Did Ya Know

Did Ya Knoh

Charleston's churches (specifically AME) has it's own clap? Yaaaaaas Lawd! Some of my fondest memories as a lil kid runnin' round Ebenezer AME was seeing the elders mach round da church with this rhythmic tribal clap. They also changed every gospel song into a soul capturing, emotional, spirit filled, rhythmic journey of a true African worship ceremony. Now as I got older and began listening to other styles of gospel music (especially in Cali. They don't know nothing bout what I'm talking about right now) I realized that the rhythm is very much connected to slavery, pain, tradition and ancestors that has transitioned on in victory and triumph. Yes. true worshup. However, rejoice because it keeps you connected to ya ruts heah! And lookya, the way the barritones, altos, dem 1st, 2nd and 3rd sopranos blend all together was a sound to be heard! See it came from somewhere only the soul could Feel. Now, if you don't have an eah for it then it sounds like an ol' chitlin circuit group (no disrespect). Liken it to the chain gangs. If you listen long enough you feel some kind of way hearing those men repetitive chants inbetween that hammer come smashing down. Sometimes here in SoCal I will begin a worship within a worship and do the 'Charleston clap' I was raised on--teeheehee. It keeps me close to home...

I want the younger generations and those who are non-geechee to grasp and understand the POWER in the clap. The elders held on to it because it spoke loudly about the way 'Africans now Americans' chose to worshup the God they were introduced to as JESUS! Like with food, language and movement the geechee people held on tight with their spiritual hands and created the closet thread to African culture here in the Carolinas. And I'm thankful for it! I know it's probably yet another dying tradition, but I lalalalaluv it! We have to start preserving our history geechee family. moregeechee@blogspot.com is adding to that. Another resource for ya. Lookya as our elders are transitioning we have to be able to hold on to God's unchanging clap! 

 Read more about it at

 reuters.com>go to news>charleston clap   (by Harriet Mcleod)

Posting by PT

Welcome to Carolima's

I had the pleasure of speaking with Sameka Jenkins about her business Carolima's. A catering company in the heart of Charleston, SC. She took the time out of her busy schedule to give us an interview about her business. If you are looking for a caterer in Charleston please visit http://www.carolimas.com/ I assure you, you will not be disappointed.
Please visit them at their location: 2931 Spruill Ave, Ste A, North Charleston. Lunch is served from 11-2, Wednesday-Friday
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Carolimas
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolimaSC

1. How did you come up with your name? Actually a very dear friend of mine gave me the name. After months of deliberation I wasn't coming up with anything that had the "ring" to it I was looking for and she was saving this name for someone special and that someone happened to be me.
2. What services do you offer? Catering for large and small events as well as weekly lunch specials along with Personal Chef Service.
3.  What makes you different from all the other catering companies? I pride myself on great food served with class and distinction. I think it's ok to serve CaroLIMA Beans at a function but it's all in the presentation.
4. What are some of the Geechee and Gullah influences that you use in your dishes? The use of smoked meats as well as the soups are very much a part of the Gullah Culture. Smoked Neckbones and Okra Soup, Collards, etc are all a part of the Gullah culture.
5. What is your background and how did you progress to your present position? I've earned two degrees, worked at several different occupations, but I always came back to my love of cooking - the one thing I didn't go to school for which is very ironic to me.
6. Do you face opposition? In addition, how do you deal with them? The catering market in Charleston is very competitive so it requires a lot of perseverance. However, at the end of the day people love great food and good news travels fast.
7.  How has your company adjusted to the down economy? We offer budget friendly specials during the week. We also use more social media to aid in our marketing because it's more cost effective.
8.  What are some future goals for your company? We are currently sharing a commercial kitchen and I look forward to having our own kitchen so that we can be open additional hours for customers
9. What made you want to own your own business? I want to provide my daughter with a legacy. Besides that I want to be in control of my own destiny. While working in Corporate America there were days I would literally hold my breath because I didn't know if I would have a job the next day. Now, I'm in control of my own destiny.
10.  What's the one thing you have learned in life that has helped you in your business? Hard work pays off in the end. If you want something you just have to go after it because it's not easy. If it was, everybody would do it!

The Sweeter side of Grass Baskets

Design by Sarah Hammond 2012

Design by Sarah Hammond 2012

I am so blessed to have family members that believe in the geechee tradition and they are a wealth of information.  Take my Aunt Sarah Hammond.  A Master basket weaver...baaaaaaaaby she will lay a basket design owt!  So I zeroed in on some key questions to gather information to shar

PT:  Auntie what generation basket weaver are you?

SH:  I'm 4th generation, at least that's as far back as I know, it could go farther back.

PT:  How far back did basket weaving start on the Carolina shores?

SH:  O' shoot probably something we did before we entered into slavery, but sweetgrass I'm sure as early as the 1800's.  That's how we carried rice, fish, shrump, crab etc. 

PT:  How have you carried on the tradition within your own family

SH:  Both my girls Valeria & Kanya know how to weave baskets.  Also I have gone on to teach two of my grand daughters.  One is as young as 8 years old.

PT:  WOW!  Auntie eight?  That's wonderful.  I'm proud of mi cousins.  I definitely need to get that craft under my belt as well...(sigh then laughter)

SH:  Well I'm here when you are ready to learn!

PT:  Anyway back to you.  Is this a career or just side business?

SH:  Definitely not a career for me because I need steady money and in this economy baskets don't sell like dey usda.  However, after 30 years with the school district, in my retirement the extra money is really good when you do sell and the gratification of seeing people enjoying your work and seeing the beauty in your culture is so fulfilling.

PT:  Speaking of "people", who are you finding more interested and/or appreciative of weaved baskets?

SH:  Others. And when I say "others"  I am not speaking of black folks.  "Others" see them and you get the ooooos and ahhhhhs.  They want to know more about them and more times than not purchase them.  Black people half don't want to look your way, as if we (basket weavers) are going to pressure them into buying.  So not the case.  It saddens me that they seem the least interested in our culture.

PT:  Yea that's true Auntie, because when you came to SoCal for your basket weaving convention.  I was taken aback that there were NO African Americans in sight when it came to your class.  I met Canadians, Mid Westerners, Germans etc. but nooooo African Americans.  I guess it's a case of know better do better.  Maybe MoreGeechee.blogspot.com can start to change that.

PT:  Do you know how that can change?  Especially with the younger generation.

SH:  Yes.  When your generation do what your doing now and reconnect black Americans with black culture and the culture within the culture.  Whether you are a geechee or not this is still a very intricate part of black history.

PT:  What are some of the changes you have seen through the decades?

SH:  Well, when I was younger watching my mom weave on the side of the road, people bought baskets out of necessity.  They used them for storage.  Now they are mainly used for decorations.  That tickles me.

PT:  What I found amazing Auntie, was when I asked do you tag your baskets or do something specific so you know your design?  You said that "even if two basket weavers designed the same style basket...the EXACT same, a weaver always know her work.  There is never any confusion nor a mistake.  And if someone tries to steal 'em...Then there is trouble.  We take basket weaving very serious."

SH:  And that answer ain changed.  

PT:  One thing I love about Mt. Pleasant is seeing the basket stands along the highway as I'm driving to your home.

SH:  Yes ma'am the town of Mt. Pleasant built and/or restored all the stands.  I got mine built on my land for free!  So nice of Mt. Pleasant.  That's why I love my town.

PT:  Aunt Sarah I have seen some of THE most beuatiful, detailed baskets now that I'm checking for them more.  It must take you forever to do some of your designs.

SH:  Well lets just say you definitely have to have time to do a basket.  However, you get so good at them that you can easily meet deadlines and/or demands when needed. You have some that are easy and some that are not.  Just make sure they good!

PT:  Well Aunt Sarah you have answered all my questions, what else would you like America to know about basket weaving as it relates to the Geechee culture/people?

SH: Our traditions only die if we let it.  You don't want someone else to rediscover and profit and/or hone what is your God given gifts.  Ya know it seems as though every other race of people seem to hold on and show an appreciation of their culture so much more tightly than Black/Gullah people hold on to theirs. Gullah people really need to because our spirit and history is so close to African traditions and culture that to let it just die off would be a crying shame.  We have some but I would love to see grow.

Images provided by
Sarah Hammond, Mt. Pleasant
843-813-3086 contact for baskets.

Story by, PT

Who are the Geechee People?

The Gullah/Geechee people are the descendants of slaves, brought over
from West and Central Africa, that live in the coastal regions of
South Carolina, Georgia, portions of Florida, and North Carolina-known
to some as the Gullah corridor.  In Georgia there are sub- groups of
the Gullah/Geechee people, the Saltwater Geechees, and the Freshwater
Geechees. The Gullah/Geechee is one of the oldest surviving cultures
in the US. 

The Gullah/Geechee Corridor 

Picture Source: National Park Service 

 A brief history:

   During the eighteenth century, plantation owners in South Carolina
and Georgia wanted slaves who could grow rice in the humid subtropical
climate of the Sea Islands.  Due to the difficulty of growing
rice, and the fact that the slaves had some resistance to diseases, such
as malaria and yellow fever, the owners of the plantations paid higher
prices for slaves from Western Africa. West Africa is sometimes
referred to as the rice coast. The slave owners, who were susceptible
to yellow fever and malaria, mostly lived inland for most of the year,
while leaving the slaves on the Sea Islands, such as St. Simons
Island, St. Helena Island, Hilton Head Island, and Sapelo Island. When
the slaves were freed after the Civil War, many Gullah bought the land
on which they worked on and continued their agrarian way of life. This
would be their life for the next one hundred years. As time moved on,
the Gullah/Geechee people moved to the mainland, for example
Charleston, SC, and Savannah, Georgia, then on to other areas.

  The Sea Islands of South Carolina, and Georgia.

Picture source: Wikipedia

 The Language:

  The Africans, captured from Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and other
countries, were held together as they began to develop a pidgin
language. The language or dialect that the Gullah/Geechee people speak
is also referred to as Gullah, and/or Geechee. This language is the
blending of the pidgin language with English, spoken by the slave
masters, and over 4000 different African words, from many different
tribes. The Gullah language is heavily influenced by Sierra Leone
Krio.

There are several theories about where the word Gullah actually comes
from.  Some believe that the word Gullah came from Angola. Others
believe the word came from the tribe of Gola, which is near the border
of Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the Mende, and Vai territories come
together. Yet others believe that the word, "Gullah" could also draw
from Gallinas, which is another name for the Vai, or posibbly from
Galo, which is the Mende word for the Vai people.

Good ole Piggly Wiggly

image from http://www.pigglywiggly.com/

Ok Christopher Ibsen means nothing to the average Charlestonian but he was a great point of contact when I chose to do Piggly Wiggly as our spotlight business.  Why Piggly Wiggly you might ask?  Let's think about it...who in Charleston has never been in a Piggly Wiggly?  Let me start my beloved granny Florence, my great grandma Alice, my aunts, cousins...heck the chilly bear lady, shall I continue?  You get it.  Anyway, they have been proud customers of Piggly Wiggly since forever! I know definitely til mi grandma took ee last breath she was a long standing customer of Piggly Wiggly.  Piggly Wiggly employees knew my family by name.  How nice is that!  When  I was sent to the store on meeting street they ALWAYS had what I was looking for and I never heard complaints about bad food or poor customer service unlike my favorite episode of Good Times when James & Florida Evans got mad because their entire family got sick off spoiled meat at their local supermarket uuugggghhhhh!

Christopher Ibsen was extremely helpful, kind and courteous.  He made it plain that he was very familiar with the Gullah community in Charleston.  He wanted it to be known that he has worked in concert with QUEEN QUET, (the elected princess of the Gullah nation) on different projects including Gullah festivals and local events also  Piggly Wiggly is no stranger to being one of many sponsors for Gullah's various events.  That for me speaks volumes!  It's evident that being tightly knitted in the geechee community they know what our people, their customers want and need.

I asked him what makes Piggly Wiggly a continued staple in the community because let's face it with hurricanes, city improvements/changes we have seen businesses come and then goooooo.  Mr. Ibsen said "out of 600 stores 100 of them are in Charleston alone!" That lets you know how strong their ties are to the carolina shores. Oh and by the way, they opened the 1st Charleston  store in 1947 and they have never looked back! I got the sentiment that Piggly Wiggly's staying power is a faithful, loyal customer base and Mr. Ibsen expressed appreciation for that.

Let's keep it all the way real! It's nice to have neighborhood stores with employee faces that look like us, voices that sounds like ours and where geechee cuisines and ingredients are readily available.  Furthermore I personally remember as a young adult that the stores were always clean....BONUS!

Did you know...

Saunders' reason for choosing the intriguing name Piggly Wiggly ® remains a mystery; he was curiously reluctant to explain its origin. One story is that he saw from a train window several little pigs struggling to get under a fence, and the rhyming name occurred to him then. Someone once asked him why he had chosen such an unusual name for his organization, and Saunders' reply was, "So people will ask that very question." He wanted and found a name that would be talked about and remembered. Read more about the history of piggly wiggly at pigglywiggly.com

Mr. Ibsen showed great appreciation for their community efforts being recognized on moregeechee.blogspot.com

Story by PT

Welcome to More Geechee

What we are is so much more than what you see. We take our culture very seriously and we want to preserve it for our future. We have a voice and we want to use it to make you laugh, cry, think, get mad, find information, and come together. This blog provides all of the above and so much more. If you want to guest post on this blog or be featured feel free to contact us at moregeechee@gmail.com

We will also be promoting geechee businesses throughout the USA so if you have one and want to be on the blog or put an ad on the blog please contact us for info.