Talk:Gullah

Latest comment: 10 months ago by Ftjrwrites in topic Angola

is it possible that the name Gullah can be etymologically linked to the Hebrew word Golah https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golah for "exile" as the group is part of what I heard called the African Diaspora.

Additional Gullah persons of note edit

What about Geeshie Wiley and Blind Blake, who sometimes went by Geechee Blind Blake? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.114.179.200 (talk) 00:37, 23 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Language related items moved to new page edit

The "Language" section of the article was moved to the new article Gullah language, according to WP policy of having separate articles for languages and ethnic groups. The relevant items from this page were moved to Talk:Gullah language. Jorge Stolfi 23:58, 22 February 2006 (UTC) Reply

Gullah Gullah Island edit

Does anyone know about the story behind the children's show Gullah Gullah Island? I haven't seen it for years but I remeber it as a kid and I think it explored the language and culture to some extent, much like Dora the Explorer does with Spanish nowadays. It was, and may still be on nick jr. It takes place on an island off the coast of S.C. so the name can't just be a coincidence. If anyone has more info, can you put it into the article, as well as the article for the show itself. I will try to see if it's on this monday and watch it if it is and see if it has any relation to the language because I can't remember that well. (July 8 2005)

Answer: January 29th, 2006. edit

The Television show "Gullah Gullah Island" was purely fictional. The island, like the yellow "pollywog" name Binyah-Binyah, is purely fiction and if for some instance, there is a location named after such is purely coincidental. However, the Gullah language and people are real, I know this having lived all around the South Carolina coast. The popular children's television show Gullah Gullah Island, which was the first preschool-targeted show to feature an African American family was in actuality, filmed at the newly defunct Nickelodeon Studios. The Gullah signifigance might have been partly concieved out of the fact that the family was of African descent.

I'm the person who first asked the question (I have an account now) and I am still pretty sure that they did teach some of the language though. And the place of filming is irrelevant, what matters is that it was supposed to take place in SC. The Ungovernable Force 02:15, 9 March 2006 (UTC)Reply
I just found this [1]. The Ungovernable Force

One of the main characters in the show was Ronald Deese (I believe that's the proper spelling), who is from St. Helena Island (or at least Beaufort County). They did include some Gullah language in the show, most notably in the introductory song. The show was clearly intended to use the Gullah heritage as a learning tool for children.

The proper spelling is "Ron Daise." -- Sorie, June 25, 2007


The television show Gullah Gullah Island was certainly in reference to this culture. here is an address which references it as such from an informational website about the Gullah. http://www.islandpacket.com/man/gullah/gullahgullah.html67.78.235.101 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 23:45, 12 February 2008 (UTC)Reply

Northern Florida edit

Are there really any significant numbers of Geechees in north Florida?--Cuchullain 01:44, 4 October 2005 (UTC)Reply

Northeastern Florida is considered to be part of the historic heritage area. Not only were African Americans there in antebellum times, but thousands of African Americans migrated from the Georgia Sea Islands and Low Country after the Civil War when the land arrangements at Port Royal and the islands fell apart. Planters were allowed to take back land that African Americans had settled on and been cultivating under provisions set up by General Sherman. I don't know how to estimate the current strength of Geechee culture among African Americans in north FL.

Not only has the National Park Service defined a heritage area, but the University of South Florida has started a project to create a Low Country Africana Heritage website, as a sister project to its www.africanaheritage.com. They will be researching African American families before and after the Civil War to create links to families before emancipation. One of the first projects is research into families and genealogy at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC.--Parkwells 20:13, 28 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Why no mention of Porgy and Bess? edit

No reference in the article is made to either Dubose Hayward's work or George Gershwin's opera which, for most people, would be how they first heard of Gullah culture, albeit not in an 'authentic' form, obviously. Is there any reason why this is the case? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fourthpoliceman (talkcontribs) 22:24, 15 November 2018 (UTC)Reply

Chinese Slaves? edit

I've never heard of Chinese slaves in the American South, especially not circa 1600. Is this true? I've never seen this mentioned in any other article. If it is, I'd encourage the person who put that in there to perhaps write an article about Chinese slaves in the American South. I don't think an article on the Gullah culture is appropriate as being the only place on Wikipedia where this is mentioned. Rhesusman 17:08, 27 October 2005 (UTC)Reply

That's not your fault that your not cultured in southern history, but they go as far south as Cuba(Whiterussian19 (talk) 05:21, 22 January 2011 (UTC))Reply


Talking about asian slaves is racist! It's just like when that group of muslim-ish (I can't remember their names..mayube Armenian?) people who were subject to a genocide and death marches during WW2. Talking about that or referring to it as the "??? holocaust" will get you labeled both a racist/bigot, a holocaust denier/history re-writer and an antisemite by the jews. Jews don't like to share and blacks/their liberal allies do not like anyone tinkering with their main/only excuse for the timeless failure of the black race everywhere on earth. If you try to take away or even slightly change their "I failed at life and stole your car because of "slavery"" excuse then they will fight you and call you a racist. Just a word of warning. (User:Me (talk) 2018 (UTC)) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.115.252.28 (talk)

Harris Neck edit

Article which seems related - about Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, where a Gullah community was impacted by WWII:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/us/01harris.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Maybe some information should be incorporated here.

Dhollm (talk) 08:08, 1 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

This is confusing edit

In the first paragraph it says "The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which some scholars speculate is related to the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia." But in the fourth and fifth paragraphs we find that explanation plus a second one (that it may have come from the Kissi people). This looks like one of those instances where someone edited the first paragraph without reading further down. I can fix this unless someone objects. Risssa (talk) 01:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

Weasel words edit

This article has a lot of weasel words phrasing: "some scholars think," "many people believe," etc, which make the entry sound incomplete and uncertain of itself. A more forceful voice would improve it a great deal. Risssa (talk) 02:13, 28 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

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Deleted this link. There are plenty of RS for information in this article, although few are used here. The National Park Service thematic study of the Low Country and its sources can be used.Parkwells (talk) 15:08, 25 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

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Angola edit

This article states "The name "Gullah" may derive from Angola,[1] where ancestors of some Gullah people likely originated. This is probably wrong because most African-Americans originate from West Africa instead of places like Angola in Central Africa."

Angola is in west Africa. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PinkPrairie (talkcontribs) 23:14, 18 October 2015 (UTC)Reply

Most African-Americans (like most Americans, period) have complicated ancestries. Individuals may originate in part from West Africa, but also originate in significant part from other parts of Africa, including Angola. And most African Americans today also have European and perhaps Native American and other ancestry. Regarding the location of Angola, it's on the West Coast of Africa, but if you look at a map of Africa you can see that it's not the part of Africa that extends far out to the west. That's the part of Africa meant when people say "West Africa," and it does not include Angola, which is usually grouped with Central Africa. Colonial shipping records indicate that a majority of people imported to English-speaking America for much of the transatlantic slave trade period were from Central Africa (including Angola), with West Africa being the next most prominent area. These factual details are well-documented and made clear in several other Wikipedia articles on this and related topics. Ftjrwrites (talk) 18:56, 1 June 2023 (UTC)ftjrwritesReply

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Historic claim unsupported edit

The article currently says: "By about 1708, South Carolina had a black majority." I don't know for a fact that this is incorrect, but the source cited doesn't seem to meet Wikipedia standards and also doesn't say this. The statement seems suspect to me. A number of historians have noted that until the Yamasee War ended in 1717, Native American slavery -- that is enslaved Native Americans that English-speaking South Carolina colonists had acquired by trading with other Native American tribes -- were prevalent in SC, with the importation of enslaved persons from Africa to Charleston greatly expanding only after 1717. See Snyder, Christina. Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America. Harvard Univ. Press, 2010, pp. 76-77, for a scholarly discussion on this issue. She notes that even after the war sparked change, the Native American slave population didn't peak in SC until 1724. That being said, there were Black slaves in South Carolina prior to that date, so it's possible that the 1708 date for a Black majority in the state is correct, at least for the tiny areas that were actually part of the colony then. But I'm skeptical and the poor sourcing makes me more skeptical. Ftjrwrites (talk) 18:48, 1 June 2023 (UTC)ftjrwritesReply