Storytelling (Night Before Christmas in Gullah) | Gullah Net

Native Islanders share their folklore and history through storytelling and singing. Gullah storytellers often perform folktales that feature animals as the main characters. Much like tales heard in Africa, the smaller animals often outsmart the bigger ones. A good example is the trickster named Brer Rabbit. He is a direct descendant of Cunnie Rabbit, the clever character in African folklore. Pictured above: South Carolinian Anita Singleton-Prather keeps the storytelling tradition alive on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Storytellers in West Africa have always been respected members of their communities. Today, Gullah storytellers like Anita Singleton-Prather carry on this tradition of acting out characters by changing their voice and making animated facial expressions. During a live performance, one storytelling technique is to get the audience involved by asking them to repeat words.

WORD BANK

Native Islander (na.tive is.land.er) n.  -  one of the original inhabitants or lifelong residents of the Sea Islands.

folklore (folk.lore) n. - the traditional stories, sayings and culture of a group of people.

storytelling (sto.ry.tell.ing) n. - the art of telling or writing stories, usually of historical or cultural value.

Gullah (gul.lah) n. - one of a group of people of African ancestry that live in the Sea Islands and coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida; the creolized language of the Gullahs, based on English and several other African languages and spoken in Sea Island communities.

trickster (trick.ster) n. - a figure in myth or folklore, often an animal, that deceives people as a joke or form of entertainment.

descendant (de.scen.dant) n. - a person whose ancestry can be traced to a particular person or group.

West Africa (west af.ri.ca) - the region of western Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea.

Standards

• 3-2 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the exploration and settlement of South Carolina.
  • The inhabitants of the early Carolina colony included native, immigrant, and enslaved peoples. To understand how these various groups interacted to form a new and unique culture, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the follo...
    • 3-2.5 Explain the role of Africans in developing the culture and economy of South Carolina, including the growth of the slave trade; slave contributions to the plantation economy; the daily lives of the enslaved people; the development of the Gullah cu...
• 3.4.1.PR Investigate the cultural characteristics of places and regions around the world.
• This indicator prompts students to inquire about how geography influences economic activities around the world. Economic livelihoods may be expressed by agriculture (subsistence, commercial), industry, and services.
  • This indicator prompts students to inquire about different ways to represent the distribution of various cultural characteristics, like belief systems, clothing, food, and shelter, and the varied ways in which people make a living in different world r
• 3.5.4.AG Use maps and other geographic representations to identify how migration patterns affect people and places.
• This indicator was written to promote inquiry into the unique development of ethnic, political, and religious identities in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies.
  • This indicator was written to promote inquiry into the role of mercantilism in the growth of agriculture, early industry, harbor development, shipping and trade, and slavery in the British colonies.
  • This indicator was developed to promote inquiry into how South Carolina developed as a result of the relationship among various ethnic, political, and religious groups.
• 8.1.E Utilize a variety of primary and secondary sources to examine multiple perspectives and influences of the economic, political, and social effects of South Carolina’s settlement and colonization on the development of various forms of government across the colonies.

Resources