Doing the Ring Shout in Georgia, ca. 1930s Members of the Gullah community express their spirituality through the “ring shout” during a service at a local “praise house.” Courtesy of Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
On a long stretch of remote islands that extend from the northern tip of South Carolina to just past the Florida border lives the majority of Gullah people. This unique African-American subculture, whose lineage traces back to the slave trade, has long been defined by their peculiar language, which was shrouded in mystery for many years.
“Word, Shout, Song,” a new exhibit that opened Mon., Aug. 9, at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, in Southeast, is a tribute to linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner, whose life’s work exposed the secrets of the Gullah dialect which was hidden beneath several generations of slavery.
The exhibit is also a celebration of the Gullah people who continue to thrive, despite years of oppression. “They are very proud of their culture,” said Alcione Amos, curator of the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, who continues to study the culture.
Gullah dialect, which sounded silly to most people outside of the Sea Islands, became Turner’s obsession when he first heard it in 1929 at South Carolina State College at Orangeburg. Statements such as “All a we hab cajun fuh meet um,” which means, “We are glad to meet you,” would baffle visitors who traveled to the Southeastern coastal regions of the United States.
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