Gullah-Geechee National Cultural Heritage Corridor seeks partners

Gullah 2
Herb Hiller (R) (Georgia/Florida coordinator for the East Coast Greenway Alliance) with GGNCHC Commissioner Emory Campbell (L) of Hilton Head, SC.

Submitted by Peggy Bulger

The Gullah-Geechee National Cultural Heritage Corridor Commissioners met on Friday, February 21st at the American Beach Community Center. The Commissioners were seeking public input into their new Management Plan to guide programming for the Corridor, which is a partner organization with the National Park Service and the Department of the interior. A large audience provided testimony, suggestions and ideas to create programming for the Corridor, which defines a cultural and linguistic landscape that spans four states, beginning in Pender County, North Carolina, and ending in St. Johns County, Florida.

The commissioners reported that seven partnerships have been approved, including one with the East Coast Greenway Alliance (a hiker/biker trail following the Atlantic coastline from Calais, ME to Key West, FL) and the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project based in Jacksonville. Nassau County, as an integral part of the Corridor, has opportunity to submit applications to the commission for partnerships that would support events and activities that celebrate Gullah-Geechee culture.

Gullah 3Gullah-Geechee culture and language were brought to the southeast coast by enslaved Africans from the primarily rice-producing regions of West and Central Africa.
Much of what we think of as First Coast culture and traditions can be traced to this unique cultural group (low country boil, hoppin’ John, pilau). In addition to African foodways, the Gullah-Geechee people of the sea islands continue to pass on their traditional arts, crafts, religious beliefs, folklore, music, dance, and language.

On the evening of February 21st, The Gullah-Geechee National Cultural Heritage Corridor Commissioners delivered a presentation on the culture and history of the Gullah people and the establishment of the corridor at the Amelia Island Museum of History. There was standing room only and many were turned away. Anyone interested in learning more about the Corridor should visit the website www.gullahgeecheecorridor.org

bulgerEditor’s Note: Peggy Bulger, an island resident, is a former Florida State Folklorist and Director of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. We thank Peggy for her contribution to the Fernandina Observer.

February 23, 2014 1:38 p.m.