User:Sapelopeople

- Background & Point of Reference -

Sapelo Island, Georgia (SIG) is the fourth largest barrier island on the Georgia coast. In the early 1800s, starting with plantation owner Thomas Spalding, West Africans, experts in rice cultivation as well as their ability to withstand malaria and yellow fever, were enslaved, primarily from what is now known as the country of Sierra Leone. They were forced to work the plantations on Sapelo. These enslaved West Africans embraced the conditions of the land, and nurtured the growth and survival of their families by connecting their strength and resilience to the land itself. Additionally, the spirit of their relationship with nature framed their existence as indigenous. The land -- and everything that the land produced -- became an expression known as “the indigenous culture of the Gullah/Geechee people on Sapelo Island.” From a cultural perspective... ...when the Civil War ended in 1865, land ownership rights were made available to formerly enslaved Gullah/Geechee people on the plantations. Moreover, formerly enslaved Gullah/Geechee people that lived off of the plantations were also afforded land ownership rights. When land ownership rights were deeded or recognized, the Gullah/Geechee culture on Sapelo Island established thirteen distinct Gullah/Geechee settlements. The total land acreage consisted of at least 2,700 acres. According to the culture, the settlements are Shell Hummock, Behavior, Riverside, Hanging Bull, Kenan Field, Lumber Landing, Bell Marsh, Chocolate, High Point, Bourbon Field, Raccoon Bluff, Hogg Hummock, and Johnson Hummock.

Even though landowner rights were made available to formerly enslaved people on the island, a strategy had to be initiated to ensure that the lands could be legitimately passed on to future generations. In 1871, the Hillary & Co. (formed by formerly enslaved men of Sapelo Island) purchased with U.S. currency a 1,000+ acre tract of land known as Raccoon Bluff. Subsequently, land was purchased in the other settlement communities and therefore legitimized the historic indigenous culture of Sapelo Island.

The historic indigenous culture of Sapelo Island began to be impacted by systemic deprivation. Three primary individuals impacted the systemic deprivation that occurred to the Gullah/Geechee culture during the early part of the 1900s. These three individuals were Howard E. Coffin, R.J. Reynolds, Jr. and Anne Marie Reynolds. The primary strategy for sustaining the deprivation of an indigenous culture is to seize control and ownership of the land. Coffin, founder of the Hudson Motor Company in Detroit, MI, went to Sapelo Island and purchased land. Later, R. J. Reynolds, Jr. of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco purchased all of Coffin’s land. Reynolds, through scare tactics and land grabs forced the Gullah/Geechee people to re-locate, dis-establishing their communities. Reynolds’ widow Anne Marie later sold the lands that originally belonged to the Gullah/Geechee people to the state of Georgia for four million dollars.

During the latter part of the 1900s the systemic deprivation of the Sapelo Island indigenous culture was impacted by public policy of government instrumentalities of the state of Georgia. Those instrumentalities are the governors, state departments, the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority and McIntosh County government.

The regeneration of the indigenous culture on Sapelo Island began in 2008 with data collection and research initiated by leaders of the Gullah/Geechee culture on Sapelo. Three cornerstones have been established to initiate remedies for the deprivation of our indigenous culture and implement strategies for the regeneration of our culture under the auspices of Solutions on Sapelo (SOS). Those three cornerstones are the Raccoon Hogg Community Development Corporation, the Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative and HELP ORG INC. http://www.gullahgeecheeculture.org/

A Gullah Man named Congressman James E. Clyburn of South Carolina said “The Gullah Geechee culture is the last vestige of fusion of African and European languages and traditions brought to these coastal areas. I cannot sit idly by and watch an entire culture disappear that represents my heritage and the heritage of those who look like me. Stories and traditions of this fusion of African and European cultures brought long ago to these shores have been slipping away along with the marsh and sand that are disappearing because of the encroachment of developments and the pressures to assimilate into the "modern" world.” AND thus the Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative is launched by stakeholders of Sapelo Island.

What is Gullah/Geechee culture? The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor 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.

Gullah/Geechee culture is such an important thread of our American fabric that in 2006 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.

For more information about the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor please visit http://www.nps.gov/guge/index.htm

Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative The Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative was established to plan, develop, evaluate and analyze reliable strategies for the regeneration of an indigenous culture.

This initiative will plan research sessions to collect information and data for the natural and historic integrity of current and future programs.

This initiative will conduct development sessions with individuals, groups and organizations to effectively manage reliable input to sustainable programs.

This initiative will evaluate proposals that lead to administrative, technical and community engagement for stakeholders to participate in long and short term programs.

This initiative will analyze local, state, regional, national and global public policy that present barriers and challenges to current and future programs.

Programs for the Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative: Gullah/Geechee Culture Data Collection, Research & Development Program: Personnel Operating Cost Office Space/Equipment General Administration

Case for Deprivation: The Deprivation of an Indigenous Culture: roundtable discussions development sessions symposiums conferences public awareness tours

Case for Regeneration: The Regeneration of an Indigenous Culture roundtable discussions development sessions symposiums conferences public awareness tours Gift – Philanthropic: Data Collection Research & Development © 2012 Gullah/Geechee Culture Initiative - All Rights Reserved.