Who are the Gullah Geechee people? Here is what you need to know about their local impact

You don’t have to go to Charleston or Savannah to see the rich cultural history of the Gullah Geechee community.

It’s all around Horry and Georgetown counties, although some of it may be hidden, said Marilyn Hemingway, CEO/president of the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce in Georgetown.

Hemingway, who is Gullah, will be the first to tell you that the Gullah Geechee people are more than sweetgrass baskets that are sold along the side of the road to tourists.

You may be participating in Gullah Geechee traditions and not even know it.

Is your porch painted blue - an often-seen occurrence in the Myrtle Beach area? That comes from the Gullah culture of preventing “haints” or ghosts from entering the home. The thought is that ghosts couldn’t cross the water, so the blue would mimic water.

Or, maybe you enjoy the low-country cuisine that involves many rice dishes. Ever see a bottle tree? Those can be attributed to the Gullah Geechee culture.

There are many ways the Gullah Geechee people have impacted the area that might be unknown or hidden unless you really look, Hemingway said.

Without the Gullah Geechee community, food culture would change, crafts would change, there wouldn’t be bottle trees or the mythology that comes from the African heritage, said Abigail Geedy, curator at the Horry County Museum.

Who are the Gullah Geechees

Gullah Geechee people are descendants of West Africans brought here as part of the slave trade. They were brought here because of their knowledge to control water and manage the lands, Hemingway said. The Gullah Geechee Corridor, which stretches along the coastal areas of North Carolina to Georgia, and the people who lived in these coastal areas have established unique traditions that have been passed down for generations.

The people have their own language that is based on a combination of African tribal languages, as well as Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish -- all languages that were needed to communicate with those on slave ships. Hemingway said it is equivalent to Creole.

In fact, Gullah terms can still be heard today. The song, “Kumbaya,” which means “Come By Here,” is a Gullah song.

Rice plantations were numerous in Georgetown and Horry County during the days of slavery, Hemingway said. The Gullah people worked the fields, she said. Georgetown was at one time one of the wealthiest counties in the world because of rice plantations.

It is one of the reasons so many southern cuisines are rice-based.

Leaving a mark

Hemingway said it’s hard to see some of the history, such as the plantations because highways have changed the area. It is more visible in rural parts of Horry and Georgetown counties, she said.

The 57-year-old, who was born and raised in the Georgetown area, is not fluent in Gullah Geechee, so for her it is more of a dialect. Often, she said, Blacks are mistaken for speaking bad English, when really it’s Gullah.

There are 1 million Gullah Geechee people in the Gullah Geechee corridor, Hemingway said. Hemingway said that more than 80% of African-Americans can trace their roots back to the corridor.

It was her ancestry that caused her to get involved with raising awareness of the Gullah Geechee people and helping to promote Black businesses.

“My family is one of many families that left a mark in Georgetown,” she said.

Where can you find Gullah Geechee history

There aren’t people making sweetgrass baskets now in Horry County, Hemingway said, to see that, you would need to head to Charleston.

But there are storytellers - wise men and women who have retained the history, Hemingway said.

“Every family has someone who knows stories. (You) still have that in Georgetown.”

Other Gullah culture you can see locally is:

• Brookgreen Gardens, 1931 Brookgreen Drive, Murrells Inlet, has a permanent outdoor exhibit that explores the Gullah Geechee heritage.

• Horry County Museum, 805 Main St., Conway. The museum offers information about the Gullah Geechee community throughout, according to Geedy. That includes the rice culture, sweetgrass baskets, and Atlantic Beach, which is an important, historically Black-owned beach, Geedy said.

• Gullah Museum, 123 King St., Unit 6, Georgetown, offers presentations on Gullah Geechee history, crop cultivation, crafts, foodways, music and language

In addition, the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce is developing a seafood trail that will preserve the area’s maritime heritage, Hemingway said. The trail, which is happening in several phases that began last year, will start in Georgetown. The hope is that it will bring people to South Carolina, including Horry and Georgetown counties, to learn more about the Gullah Geechee and to promote seafood-related businesses owned by members of the Gullah community, she said.

It was determined through a market study that the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor has the potential to bring in $34 billion in tourism for the four states that make up the corridor -- North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

It would benefit Horry and Georetown counties, which are “deeply Gullah Geechee,” Hemingway said.

“This stuff that’s happening” Hemingway said, “is going to impact Myrtle Beach and Horry County because of the history.”