essay
Gullah attitudes toward life and death
Africanisms in American culture • Bloomington • Published In 1990 • Pages: 69-97
By: Creel, Margaret Washington.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper, Creel examines Gullah religious life and attitudes towards death in the Antebellum period. (This article also forms a chapter in her book, see document no. 3.) She identifies aspects of Gullah religious practice and beliefs that originated in Africa and those influenced by Christianity and the conditions of slavery. She discusses African secret societies and suggests that they survived in some form in the new world, shaping Gullah religious organization and practices. She claims that the Gullah did not fear death but regarded it as another rite of passage. While some may regard Gullah attitude towards death as fatalistic, Creel argues that it expressed an inner strength and way to cope with the harsh and often brutal conditions of slavery. She also discusses Gullah ideas of sorcery, 'good' and 'bad' deaths, the afterlife, and funeral rites.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ethos
- Slavery
- Religious beliefs
- Eschatology
- Death
- Life and death
- Dying
- 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
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Historian
- 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.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2005
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- unknown
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1739-1866
- 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
- Margaret W. Creel
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 88046022
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Sea Islands/Gullahs