I grew up on Walt Disney’s Brer Rabbit and his many other Eurocentric fantasy generated myths of American culture. Did I have any notion as a young child that Brer Rabbit was part of a long tradition of “trickster tales” passed down through generations of African parents to their children as morality stories? Did I know that these tales had become an integral part of the African-American resistance to slavery in the bucolic islands off the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida? Certainly not in the 1950‘s and 1960‘s and, in reality, not until I visited Riceport, Georgia’s Geechee Kunda Cultural Center. Goes to show that even being a well traveled writer there’s a lot to learn about one’s own country.
Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
“De buckruh dey duh ‘ood duh hunt tuckrey.” (“The white man is in the woods hunting turkeys.”) Incorrect English? Yes, but it’s not “English” as Webster’s Dictionary would have us understand. That is Gullah, the hybrid language captives from West Africa developed after being brought to the rice plantations in the English colonies along the southern coast of the Carolinas, Georgia and, finally, Florida. The productive plantations of what is collectively known as the Low Country and the Sea Islands brought vast wealth to their largely absentee white owners. This allowed the slave families to maintain some semblance of traditional life from the culturally rich lands they were forced to leave, develop a distinct patois and eventually create southern cuisine.
The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, North Carolina in the north to Jacksonville, Florida, in the south. The National Heritage Area includes roughly 80 barrier islands and continues inland to adjacent coastal counties, defining a region 30 miles inland throughout the United States Low Country. The Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor is home to the Gullah people in the Carolinas, and the Geechee in Georgia and Florida.
The Geechee Kunda Cultural Center, Riceboro, GA
Just a few miles inland from the wealthy islands of St. Simons and Jekyll – where many plantations existed before their demise during the Civil War – Riceboro, GA, is home to the Geechee Kunda Cultural Center founded by Philadelphia transplants Jim and Pat Bacote. More than a mere museum, Jim explains, “We use culture as a vehicle for Mental Empowerment, Intellectual Liberation, and Spiritual Healing.” A believer in Pan-Africanism, Jim says the mission of the Center is primarily educational to “find the common thread among African people.” Events and festivals range from the post Thanksgiving Sugar Cane Grinding Festival to presentations of traditional west African music, dance, arts and crafts. The permanent display of African art in the Center is impressive.
On the grounds of the Center are large traditional kitchen pots, a 19th century human powered sugar cane grinding machine and large stove for cooking sugar cane juice into syrup, all used during festivals. A thatched roof African round house serves as a gift shop. Having seen numerous such round houses on a recent tour of Zimbabwe I was curious to understand the reason behind the design. Jim explained that the design was both esthetic and practical. The circle is a universal spiritual symbol, but in hot climates, with judicious placement of windows/openings, it aids cooling air circulation within the structure.
Geechee Gullah Cuisine
Grits, collard greens, peanuts, smoked pork, beef and chicken, beans and rice are just some of the foods Americans associate with traditional southern cuisine, yet they were all introduced by the Geechee Gullah people – they are part of traditional African cuisine. As a chef and food writer on a tour of southern Georgia at the invitation of Leigh Cort Publicity, the King and Prince Beach Resort on St. Simons Island and a guest at the Center of Camille Ronay, President of Georgia Made Georgia Grown, I was most interested in learning about this African connection. It was no more difficult than the food placed on the table in front of me.
Pat Bacote said that “herbs are the feel good in food,” and I couldn’t agree more. The steamed rice was fragrant with basil, garlic, nutmeg, salt, pepper and turmeric which gave it a beautiful yellow orange hue. The black beans were studded with fresh parsley and the wood smoked beef and chicken from the outdoor barbecue were tender and mahogany brown.
The previous evening at the King and Prince Beach Resort I had enjoyed shrimp and creamy grits redolent with smoky Tasso ham, a dish that owes its origins to Geechee Gullah cooking, and boiled peanuts - as traditional a preparation method as can be found for these South American/African legumes. Never had boiled peanuts? Neither had I, but they’re easy to prepare and go great with cold beer.
Diversity, both ethnic and geographic, creates fascinating opportunities for cultural expression. Even in my city of Philadelphia, only a few miles from home, the cuisine of the Geechee Gullah has made its mark in the presense of the popular Geechee Girl Rice Cafe. The homogenization of America isn’t an inexorable force, and that’s fortunate.
Marc d'Entremont - Years of experience as a chef, historian and teacher guides my travel and food writing. I explore all things that shape a culture.
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