By Cindy Jackson
June 26, 2019 1:00 p.m.
“Healin de Land and Holdin pun de Culcha” is Geechee for “healing the land and preserving our culture.”
On June 24, Nassau County, Florida proclaimed the week of July 27 – August 4, 2019 as Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week” and in so doing joined the community of Beaufort, South Carolina, Glynn County, Georgia and Hampton County, South Carolina in recognizing and celebrating the culture and contributions of this nation, a celebration that was first officially commemorated in 2012.
Historically, the Gullah, is a term used to describe African Americans living in the region spanning from Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, Florida and, Geechee is the term used to describe the creole language they developed. The term Gullah/Geechee is now frequently used to describe both the people and their language.
The official Gullah/Geechee nation was originally recognized in 2000 as the Gullah/Geechees came together on July 2, “with international observers and media present.”
As outlined in the resolution, the Gullah/Geechees have an extensive history in Nassau County that includes “both the enslavement and self- determination of the Gullah/Geechee people through the history of Amelia Island, Old Town, Yulee, Nassauville, Franklintown, and American Beach. Fernandina served as a point of disembarkation of Africans along our shoreline, as well as a place of Gullah/Geechee subsistence fishing and spiritual nourishment; and Nassau County supports the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Plan which seeks to protect this historic coast and to keep Gullah/Geechee culture alive on it.”