Book

When roots die: endangered traditions on the Sea Islands

University of Georgia Press • Athens • Published In 1987 • Pages:

By: Jones-Jackson, Patricia.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This work is an important contribution to linguistics and folklore, and is one of the first book length treatments of the Sea Islanders language and culture. Its sound scholarship and clear and engaging style provide a wealth of information for both professional interest and lay readers. The work is divided into four major chapters. Chapter 1 provides a survey of the area and its people, with data on geography, demography, and economic and social history. Chapters 2 and 3 make up the largest portion of this book. Chapter 2 provides information on the settings in which folktales are told, the techniques employed in story-telling, and biographical sketches on some of the prominent storytellers. Chapter 3 consists of Sea Islanders prayers and tales, with comparisons made to some of their African counterparts. The final chapter, Chapter 4, is strongly oriented to the linguistic features of the Sea Islanders speech, again with comparative data provided on African parallels. Four appendices conclude this work providing information on fishing, a text of a Brer (Buh) Rabbit tale, a phonetic text concerning the soul and spirit, and the land question in contemporary society.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Literature
Literary texts
Location
Topography and geology
Climate
Acculturation and culture contact
Life history materials
Linguistic identification
Family relationships
Extended families
Organized ceremonial
Household
Hunting and trapping
Fishing
Diet
Tillage
Cereal agriculture
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Gullah Geechee
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Linguist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1990
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1973-1986
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1973-1986
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Sea Islands, South Carolina, United States
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Patricia Jones-Jackson
Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-193) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
85020912
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Sea Islands/Gullahs