The moralistic story of the Tortoise and the Hare and the rejoicing lyrics of Kumbayah are part of a distinctive piece of Americana that may be slowly dissipating into mainstream culture. Its inspiring and candid folktales and songs have gone beyond borders and cultures. And yet, as widely narrated and resonated as these are, it’s almost impossible to believe that their origins remain ambiguous to many. The roots of these mysterious, pleasant pieces of folklore can be traced back in time to a place where traditions thrived in a new setting. This was in the Land of Gullah. Gullah is a West African culture that survived the hardships of slavery and remained almost unscathed since the 1600s. Now, the Children’s Museum of Houston is once again reviving the arts and practices of the Gullah people in a reinvented, powerful exhibit, titled Tales from the Land of Gullah.

During the 1600s to the 1800s, millions of West Africans were enslaved throughout the Western Hemisphere. Of those taken to the United States, most were stripped of their culture, language and customs and as a result, lost their homeland traditions. However, Africans living on the Sea Islands, along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, remained relatively isolated from mainland America. Thus, they were able to form and preserve a unique way of life that blended their West African heritage with European-American and slave traditions. This became known as the Gullah culture.

A CULTURAL JOURNEY BACK IN TIME

Tales from the Land of Gullah builds bridges into the ancestral home that exists in the hearts and minds of many Gullah people today. The exhibit will take us back to the 1940s, long before the existing bridges were built to connect the islands to the mainland and the culture began to blend. In today’s society, values and traditions are assimilating into one as advances in technology bring the world together. This exhibit aims to preserve and provide cultural understanding of Gullah traditions, as well as develop an appreciation for one’s own culture and background.

Children will experience the rhythms of Gullah life through sounds, crafts and musical traditions. In the exhibit, visitors will begin their voyage in time with a brief introduction via an interactive kiosk by Aunt Pearlie Sue (a character portrayed by native Sea Lander and actress Anita Singleton-Prather). They’ll enter a recreated, traditional Gullah home in Gullah Livin’ where they’ll be able to engage in the everyday practices, including rice cooking and quilt making, just like they did in the 1940s. Then, they’ll head outside the home and experience how the Gullah people survived through shrimp catching, gardening and rice processing in Livin’ off the Land. Children and parents alike can experience how the Gullah folks entertained themselves through lively, storytelling in The Tellin’ Forest.

Tales from the Land of Gullah is the fifth exhibition in the Museum’s Chase Gallery, our new home for visiting exhibitions, generously donated by Chase. The Chase Gallery hosts a changing schedule of new traveling exhibitions from across North America every three to four months.