Category Archives: Gullah/Geechee Sacred Areas
Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week 2026: Hunnuh Mus Tek Cyare de Root fa Heal de Tree
Throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation stretching from Jacksonville, North Carolina down to Jacksonville, Florida and inland to the St. Johns River, lies a rich cultural legacy that has endured for centuries. Every year during late July and early August, communities across the region come together to celebrate Gullah/Geechee Nation Appreciation Week.
Saving de Gullah/Geechee Witness Tree at Sol Legare
The center of the Gullah/Geechee Nation’s flag is embossed with a Gullah/Geechee family tree that consist of human bodies that are intertwined and rooted in the soil of the Sea Islands. The oak tree is a powerful symbol within Gullah/Geechee culture—mirroring the sacred tree rooted at the very center of the Gullah/Geechee Nation’s national flag. Protecting it represents a refusal to allow the physical markers of our heritage to be erased. “Save James Island” folks have made it clear: “You can’t replant history.” The historic live oak tree at Sol Legare cannot simply be replanted either. It is truly a witness to what our ancestors of Sol Legare went through and now it is a witness to the encroaching destructionment no longer in the distance across the creek from Mosquito Beach but right under its own branches. However, like native Gullah/Geechees, webe de tree planted by de rivers of wata. We shall not be moved!
Gullah/Geechee Musical Environmental Journeys
Whenever I have an opportunity to stand on the shoreline of the Gullah/Geechee Nation my spirit gets renewed. It is not only the warm Sea Island breeze laced in salt with its unique smell, it is also the rustle in the trees and the sway of the salt marsh that a dancer like me finds kinship with. I can hear an ancestral choir singing to a polyrhythmic beat that tends to be punctuated by the rhythms of crashing waves or the ripples in the river. Tenk GAWD fa de Sea Islands!
De Gullah/Geechee Nation’s Queen Quet Announces 30th Anniversary “Save the Sea Islands Tour”
Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head-of-State of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, officially announces her 30th Anniversary “Save the Sea Islands Tour,” a multicity initiative celebrating Gullah/Geechee heritage and advancing the mission of land preservation, cultural continuity, and community empowerment. The tour, themed “Hunnuh Mus Tek Cyare de Root fa Heal de Tree — Celebrating Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy,” underscores the enduring wisdom that community restoration and sustainability begin with caring for the roots of our culture and heritage.
Gullah/Geechee Nation Celebrates Black History Month
In the Gullah/Geechee Nation, celebrating sustained identity and land ownership happens 365 days of the year. So, the Gullah/Geechee Nation is actively engaged in Black History Month celebrations and will host numerous events throughout the coast. Cum fa jayn we!
HEADS UP! Protect Gullah/Geechee Sacred Burial Areas!
HEADS UP Gullah/Geechee Nation Famlee! STAND UP on Tuesday and protect our sacred Gullah/Geechee burial areas!
Join us at the BIg House Cemetery Court Hearing
on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 9:30 am at
the Beaufort County Courthouse
102 Ribaut Rd, Beaufort, SC 29902
Room 208
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, Honored with “Excellence in Education Award” by Planting People Growing Justice
Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head-of-State of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, has been awarded the prestigious “Excellence in Education Award” by Planting People Growing Justice, the leadership and literacy initiative founded and led by Dr. Artika R. Tyner. The recognition celebrates her decades-long commitment to education, literacy, and cultural empowerment across the Gullah/Geechee Nation and beyond.
Gullah/Geechee Ancestral Voices Speak to Protect St. Helena Island from Destructionment
For three years running, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, our attorneys from the South Carolina Environmental Law Center, the Coastal Conservation League, Penn Center and a cadre of additional partners have continued to stand up to Protect St. Helena Island. This year, two of our fighters that understood that we are warring against spiritual wickedness in high and low places crossed over in the realm of the ancestors. The first one that made his crossing was Rev. Kenneth Hodges of the “Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center” who pastored Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort, SC where we unveiled the Harriet Tubman Monument. We stood together many times on each of these things and in each of these places. His words live on as he speaks from the grave concerning the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay District…
Gullah/Geechee Film Doubleheader at the International African American Museum (IAAM)
As part of the International African American Museum Summer Film Series: On Thursday, June 5 from 6PM to 9PM we present a special dual screening of “A Tree Story” and a preview screening of “High Water”—two powerful films that examine the ongoing fight to preserve land, culture, and memory in the Lowcountry.
Gullah/Geechee Bottle Tree at the Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center
The Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center is set to make history with the unveiling of the tallest and largest custom bottle tree ever crafted in the United States. This remarkable twin bottle tree exhibit unveiling is part of the lead-up to the grand opening of the first-ever Gullah Cultural Heritage Center in the Bluffton-Hilton Head area—a space dedicated to honoring the rich legacy and contributions of the Gullah/Geechee people.