Ritual Communication and the History of Gullah Landownership on James Island, S.C.

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar I

Abstract

Recent commercial developments in the Southeastern Sea Islands threaten the survival of African American communities known as “Gullah,” that have retained more of their African cultural and linguistic heritage than any other African American community in the United States. This paper uses James Carey's ritual model of communication as a way of understanding historical concepts of Gullah landownership, and the challenges of preserving Gullah land and culture on James Island, S.C.

Author

• Brian Graves, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill