Have you ever wondered what was down the Road pass the Harris Teeter on the way to Folly Beach. It is a living Gullah Geechee Community, The Sol Legare Island Community.
Have you driven down Sol Legare Road to the Boat Landing or on the right before you get to Backman's Seafood and seen the big white house sitting solely in a open yard next to a giant pecan tree. Well that is not a house, that is a independent museum dedicated to the preservation of the Gullah Geechee and African American Culture and Native American Culture. It is called the Seashore Farmer's Lodge Museum and African American Culture Center. I can go on to do the spill of the history and more but that story has been told. For more on the in depth, I thought BeBestby did a fabulous historical layout check out.
What is a Seashore Farmer? A Seashore Farmer is a fisherman or a seaman. They harvest most of their products from the marsh and creeks and ocean. The people of this regional area are famous for water farming. The history of rice is being preserved and most know its cultivation in the lowcountry. The Seashore Farmers would also trade and sell food with the neighboring areas and Johns Island creating mini markets within the hidden communities. There are several interdependent seashore farmer's that exist within the community today. The farmer's created outdoor markets and farm stands with goods of everyday use for the local and surrounding communities. The history of the City Market is tied to the Sol Legare Island and Battery Island areas, with the first farmers and fisherman that began selling products on the city markets were families. The farmer's names are in the history books and have been long forgotten from the lips of the writer but in oral history their story still lives on.
Did they practice VOODOO?
The religious history of the lowcountry Gullah Geechee people is hidden away from the public or masked inside the common accepted faiths i.e. Christianity or masonic ways for preservation from religious exploitation. As I discovered it is still very well hidden, only specific people will speak and others will mock, but no one will give leads to the deeper connection of the Gullah people true spiritual history. However, the upper deck of building is one of the first masonic lodges on the Sea Island. Not just any masonic lodge but truly a cover for the secret African society: Poro and Sande. In the griot stories, it is hinted to the secret societies within the Gullah Geechee culture. These were West African secret "masonic" societies that have been secretly passed down generation to generation and hidden in the accepted masonic lodge and away from the persecution of the public society. During my research, the residents are very skeptical and skittish in their response about the secret society and the upper deck of the lodge. Some did expose the truth in a nod.
The history of Africans culture is very complex; every time the surface is scratched it reveals other layers. I wonder why are the residents remain quite about the deep history. In digging for answers we found an connection. The Poro, or Purroh, is a men's secret society in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, introduced by the Mande people(the area in which the Gullah Geechee people are direct genetic descendants). Poro is sometimes referred to as a hunting society and only males are admitted to its ranks, hint to the Rights of Passage: hunting. The female equivalent of the Poro is the Sande society,
I took a tour and was truly impressed with the Griots and the Artifacts, most of all I was loving the area and the people. So friendly and encouraging, it makes you feel like home. Visiting with the locals is always fun and exciting. The community is starting to look to open their doors more to the public and we will keep you posted on the expansion of more of the Explore the Sea Island. Every time I go the museum I learn something new. I got my tickets, Do YOU? Now we plan the FOOD!!
