De Gullah/Geechee pun St. Helena Island via SaintHelenaGullahGeechee.com

Disya da St. Helena” gwine bring hunnuh chillun riycha fa see who webe pun historic St. Helena Island, SC een de Gullah/Geechee Nation.

It is truly a blessing to be able to assist people with a virtual visit through ourstory of historic St. Helena Island, South Carolina where I was homegrown in my Gullah/Geechee culture. The essence of the Gullah/Geechee legacy that we continue to fight to hold onto is captured within every layer of this story map that was created via the “WEBE Gullah/Geechee” course that I had the honor of co-teaching with Dr. Kate Derickson of the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank.

I spent the semester as the Winton Chair in the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota and Dr. Derickson and I were professors in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society. Our graduate students and CREATE Fellows spent months engaged in learning about Gullah/Geechee culture and the outcome of their education is presented in the first story map to ever be created about my beloved Saint Helena.

We pray that you will begin your visit at www.SaintHelenaGullahGeechee.com and support the numerous Gullah/Geechee businesses listed to insure that economic support actually goes into the hands of native Gullah/Geechees that live our cultural traditions. A massive amount of the economic empowerment that Gullah/Geechees should receive is funneled off by a wide array of people that have moved to the Gullah/Geechee Nation and that use the terms “Gullah” and “Geechee” on tours, products, events, and in booklets to simply lure tourists to them and then give them a narrative of enslavement, mythology, and misinformation about our people. The businesses and institutions that you will see listed at www.SaintHelenaGullahGeechee.com are authentically Gullah/Geechee and are fully owned and operated by native Gullah/Geechee people.

You can operate the site as an app on your cell phone to take a journey through the Gullah/Geechee Nation and support our people along the way.

When you get here to St. Helena, you will find the people that are featured continuing to sustain our community via hard work, dedication to our land and legacy, and with love and concern for one another. So, hunnuh chillun, e time fa hunnuh tek de virtual journey and when de pandemic dun dun, cum fa see we!

Tenk GAWD fa St. Helena and de Gullah/Geechee Nation Famlee!

Peace,

Queen Quet

Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation

Founder, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition

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Tune een ta de Gullah/Geechee TV (GGTV) unveiling of de “Disya da St. Helena” story map and learn about some of the features and functions and how to have a fully engaging journey:

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