Sapelo Island Faces Fight
WTOC CBS, Savannah, Georgia
http://www.wtoc.com/story/15159817/sapelo-island-faces-fight
Posted: Jul 27, 2011 6:23 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 31, 2011 7:40 PM EDT
By Tim Guidera
SAPELO ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - Every day, Reginald Hall takes the 12 minute boat ride from Sapelo Island to the mainland to conduct business.
But tomorrow, he'll make a longer, more important trip as part of a group hoping to preserve, restore and rebuild Sapelo's local history.
Hall will present the Geechee Gullah Cultural Act to the state legislature, seeking to end what he calls cultural deprivation of descendents of slaves who have lived on Sapelo for 210 years and the return of land he says the state has taken illegally from the Geechee Gullahs.
"It's systemic,'' says Hall, the CEO of the Sapelo-based Geechee Gullah Culture, Inc. "That is an idea of how to remove the people from the land to create another Jekyll Island, another St. Simons or Hiltion Head. It can't happen.''
What locals claim has been happening in Sapelo's 13 Geechee Gullah neighborhoods, its historic district, has been the dwindling presence of a people being forced out, they say by increased property taxes because of new, un-zoned resort homes and large landholders like the state's Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia.
"They're the only two organizations over here,'' said Iregene Grovener. "They don't hire anybody from the community, but they use the Sapelo Island name to get their grants.''
"My community is dying every day,'' added Cornelia Bailey, a local resident and business owner. "Somebody out there has got to be able to help.''
For Geechee Gullah residents, that help would be welcome from an administrative hearing on the equity in governance act or simply increased exposure to their plight.
"Business as usual must be conducted differently,'' said Hall. "It must be conducted with the resident of sapelo as decendents to have gernance of our own equities.''
"The state owns 99.9 percent of Sapelo and we own the other .1 percent,'' added Bailey. "But this .1 percent is very important because we're one of the last gullah geechee heritages left. I want this to remain our homeland. I want that for my children, my grandchildren and great grandchildren, even the unborn. I want this to be the place.''
Copyright 2011 WTOC. All rights reserved.
Posted: Jul 27, 2011 6:23 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 31, 2011 7:40 PM EDT
By Tim Guidera
SAPELO ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - Every day, Reginald Hall takes the 12 minute boat ride from Sapelo Island to the mainland to conduct business.
But tomorrow, he'll make a longer, more important trip as part of a group hoping to preserve, restore and rebuild Sapelo's local history.
Hall will present the Geechee Gullah Cultural Act to the state legislature, seeking to end what he calls cultural deprivation of descendents of slaves who have lived on Sapelo for 210 years and the return of land he says the state has taken illegally from the Geechee Gullahs.
"It's systemic,'' says Hall, the CEO of the Sapelo-based Geechee Gullah Culture, Inc. "That is an idea of how to remove the people from the land to create another Jekyll Island, another St. Simons or Hiltion Head. It can't happen.''
What locals claim has been happening in Sapelo's 13 Geechee Gullah neighborhoods, its historic district, has been the dwindling presence of a people being forced out, they say by increased property taxes because of new, un-zoned resort homes and large landholders like the state's Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia.
"They're the only two organizations over here,'' said Iregene Grovener. "They don't hire anybody from the community, but they use the Sapelo Island name to get their grants.''
"My community is dying every day,'' added Cornelia Bailey, a local resident and business owner. "Somebody out there has got to be able to help.''
For Geechee Gullah residents, that help would be welcome from an administrative hearing on the equity in governance act or simply increased exposure to their plight.
"Business as usual must be conducted differently,'' said Hall. "It must be conducted with the resident of sapelo as decendents to have gernance of our own equities.''
"The state owns 99.9 percent of Sapelo and we own the other .1 percent,'' added Bailey. "But this .1 percent is very important because we're one of the last gullah geechee heritages left. I want this to remain our homeland. I want that for my children, my grandchildren and great grandchildren, even the unborn. I want this to be the place.''
Copyright 2011 WTOC. All rights reserved.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT:
1 (912) 601-3000
GEECHEE GULLAH CULTURE SPOKESPERSON FROM SAPELO ISLAND, GEORGIA
ANNOUNCES NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
The Regeneration Of An Indigenous Culture
ATLANTA, Georgia – Geechee Gullah Culture Spokesperson Reginald H. Hall announced today the establishment of the Geechee Gullah Culture Non-Government Organization, Incorporated. The NGO consist of an executive accountability team, a tribunal, and a legislative body.
This NGO intends, according to Hall, to remedy the current deprivation situation impacted by the illegal land claims of the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority and The Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Management Area of the state of Georgia. The area of concern is known in the culture as the ancestral Geechee settlement of Raccoon Bluff, consisting of 1,376.78 acres.
West Africans, enslaved and brought to America, embraced the conditions of the land, and nurtured the growth and survival of their families by connecting their strength and resilience to the land itself. Additionally, the spirit of their relationship with nature framed their existence as indigenous. The land -- and everything that the land produced -- became an expression known as “the indigenous culture of the Geechee Gullah people”.
“We intend to hold onto as well as reclaim lands,” Hall asserts, “that have legally belonged to our families since 1871, as well as preserve and create the economic sustainability that will allow us to pass on our culture for generations to come.”
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT:
1 (912) 601-3000
GEECHEE GULLAH CULTURE SPOKESPERSON FROM SAPELO ISLAND, GEORGIA
ANNOUNCES NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
The Regeneration Of An Indigenous Culture
ATLANTA, Georgia – Geechee Gullah Culture Spokesperson Reginald H. Hall announced today the establishment of the Geechee Gullah Culture Non-Government Organization, Incorporated. The NGO consist of an executive accountability team, a tribunal, and a legislative body.
This NGO intends, according to Hall, to remedy the current deprivation situation impacted by the illegal land claims of the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority and The Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Management Area of the state of Georgia. The area of concern is known in the culture as the ancestral Geechee settlement of Raccoon Bluff, consisting of 1,376.78 acres.
West Africans, enslaved and brought to America, embraced the conditions of the land, and nurtured the growth and survival of their families by connecting their strength and resilience to the land itself. Additionally, the spirit of their relationship with nature framed their existence as indigenous. The land -- and everything that the land produced -- became an expression known as “the indigenous culture of the Geechee Gullah people”.
“We intend to hold onto as well as reclaim lands,” Hall asserts, “that have legally belonged to our families since 1871, as well as preserve and create the economic sustainability that will allow us to pass on our culture for generations to come.”
###
