Gullah Culture

Traditions and heritage live on.

Campbell Chapel AME Church

By Linda Lanier

For more than 300 years, the Gullah, descendants of slaves, have lived in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Brought against their will from West and Central Africa, they endured hardship and heartbreak. After emancipation, they made a new home on the Daufuskie and Saint Helena sea islands. These native islanders and their ancient culture remain a vibrant thread in the fabric of Bluffton life.

After the Civil War and well into the 20th century, the Gullah community continued to live in relative isolation on islands with no bridges and little contact with the mainland. Fishing, oystering, and farming were the way of life. Much of the Lowcountry’s beloved food culture originated with the Gullah— rice perlo, okra gumbo, shrimp and gravy, cooked with spices and timehonored African cooking methods.

The rich Gullah creole dialect, a distinctive mixture of English and African languages, is still spoken and written. One of the best-known Gullah expressions, “Kumbaya,” translated “come by here,” found its way into a famous folk song. And Gullah sweetgrass baskets, treasured for their beauty and artistry, are sewn by hand today as they were in the 18th century.

Spiritual life remains at the heart of Gullah culture. Small historic praise houses are tucked under majestic oak trees, and the New Testament has been translated into Gullah.

About 20 minutes from Bluffton, Historic Mitchelville, located on Hilton Head Island’s Port Royal Sound, was America’s first selfgoverned town of freed slaves. Established in 1862 by General Ormsby Mitchel, the commander of the Union forces that occupied Hilton Head Island, the town was built by and for formerly enslaved people who were granted their freedom, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, in the Port Royal Experiment. Gullah people, direct descendants of Mitchelville, continue to tell their story through the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park and the Mitchelville Preservation Project. Storytelling is an important way to bring awareness of the Gullah way of life in the Lowcountry and preserve the rich past and importance of this centuries-old culture.

Sweetgrass basket

Historic praise house

WAY OF LIFE Experience Gullah influence on local culture during a Historic Bluffton Walking Tour at the Heyward House Museum and Welcome Center in Old Town.