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Article: Scholars link S. Carolina residents to Sierra Leone
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- February 28, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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FROGMORE, S.C. Two scholars are scouring the coasts and barrier
islands of South Carolina and Georgia, seeking proof that
Gullah-speaking residents are descendants of slaves brought here from
Sierra Leone more than 200 years ago.
As evidence of the links between the West African nation and the
American South, the two cite various local customs, including a
distinctive way of net-casting while fishing, basket-weaving
techniques and, most telling, the pidgin dialect of Gullah.
Akintola Wyse, a historian, and Joko Sengova, a linguist, are on
leave from the University of Sierra Leone's Fourah Bay College. Both
are members of the Sierra Leone Gullah Research Committee, which will
examine the ...