U.S. House Approves legislation to create a commission to Preserve Gullah-Geechee culture in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

• Originally published in The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) March 15, 2005 Copyright 2005 The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

House passes new bill for Gullah preservation AH: If measure becomes law, preservation commission could receive up to $20 million during 10 years


By MICHAEL GARTLAND Of The Post and Courier Staff

For the second time in two years, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to create a commission that would preserve Gullah-Geechee culture in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

The commission could receive up to $20 million in the course of 10 years if the bill passed by the House on Monday meets with approval in the Senate and from President Bush.

Last fall, both the House and Senate passed similar bills to establish a Gullah-Geechee historic corridor that would stretch along the coast from northern Florida to North Carolina. That legislation didn't become law because of a technicality: The separate House and Senate bills were never made consistent with each other during the last congressional session.

If the current bill is approved, a commission of experts will work to preserve a way of life that dates to early Colonial times and to West Africa. A distinct dialect and unique crafts, such as sweetgrass basket weaving, contribute to the culture's importance. About one-third of black Americans can trace their roots to the Gullah-Geechee coastline, making the issue of cultural preservation relevant outside Southern states.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the coastline one of its 11 most endangered historic places in 2004.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., sponsored both House bills and hopes efforts to preserve Gullah-Geechee culture will prompt more frank discussion about race and slavery in America.

"Hopefully, we'll be as creative about preserving this as we will the Hunley," Clyburn said, referring to the Confederate submarine and the amount of attention and funding its recovery and restoration have received.

One of the top priorities for a Gullah-Geechee commission will be finding ways to stem the dwindling local supply of sweetgrass. Development along the coastline and marshes has made the plant more difficult to find and has caused weavers to cut back on production of the baskets.

Nakia Wigfall, 45, has fashioned crafts out of sweetgrass since she was 4 years old and passed the tradition down to her son and daughter. They know how to use a steel nail in weaving and they know that their ancestors once used a filed animal bone for the same purpose, but so far, they've learned only the basics of weaving because sweetgrass isn't plentiful enough for the trial and error of beginners.

"The sweetgrass is so scarce, I cannot afford to allow them to practice with it," Wigfall said.

Historians aren't just concerned about sweetgrass disappearing. In South Carolina, black communities that have remained intact for decades are now undergoing serious changes, especially on barrier islands such as Edisto and St. Helena.

One longtime St. Helena Island resident said that, since Reconstruction, keeping the land has been a struggle for local blacks. Robert Middleton, 75, grew up on the island and remembers hearing his grandparents tell stories of old slave owners who tried to persuade newly freed slaves into leaving so they could hold on to the land. The freed slaves who stayed gained ownership of parcels they previously worked on without pay.

Now, blacks whose island history goes back generations must deal with the growing pains of development.

"The developers are trying to come in and change a lot of things," Middleton said. "That's why we're trying to keep Penn together."

The Penn Center is located on St. Helena and is dedicated to the preservation of Gullah-Geechee culture. It's housed in buildings once dedicated to teaching island children crafts and trades.

If the proposed historic corridor is created, it could mean more money for the center and increased awareness.

"We want to make sure that every child in this county knows of life in the Penn School," said Ervena Faulkner, a manager of history and culture at the Penn Center. "We want to make sure everyone in this state knows what Gullah is about."