Geechee
Gullahs () are a subgroup of African Americans who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the Sea Islands. Their language and culture have preserved a high volume of Africanisms as a result of their historical geographic isolation.
Historically, the Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on North Carolina's coast south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on Florida's coast. Gullahs are also known as Geechees (), which may be derived from the name of the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia. The Georgia communities are distinguished by identifying as either "Freshwater Geechee" or "Saltwater Geechee", depending on whether they live on the mainland or the Sea Islands.
Having gone through a period of relative isolation from whites while working on large plantations in rural areas, Gullahs, who came from a variety of Central and West African ethnic groups, developed a creole culture that preserved much of their African linguistic and cultural heritage; in addition, they absorbed new influences from the region. According to the Gullah/Geechee Nation website, many Gullahs have some Native American ancestry. Their language, an English-based creole, contains many African loanwords and has been influenced by African languages in grammar and sentence structure. Gullah crafts, farming and fishing traditions, folk beliefs, music, rice-based cuisine and story-telling traditions all exhibit strong influences from Central and West African cultures.
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