The Water Brought Us: The Story of the Gullah-Speaking People - Hardcover

Branch, Muriel Miller

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525651853 ISBN 13: 9780525651857

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers, 1995

Synopsis

A portrait of the Gullah-speaking people living in the West Indies and America traces their culture to its roots in the maroons, castles, and forts along the West African coast.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5 Up?A broad perspective on the history, culture, religion, folklore, lifestyle, arts, and language of Gullah-speaking African Americans, an ethnic group who live on the coastal islands of South Carolina and Georgia. This is a very ambitious aim, so the end result is rather mixed: the section on the history of the Gullahs as they left West Africa and endured slavery times in America and afterwards is interesting and well organized. The section on religious practices is also informative. However, the information on the native Gullah dialect gets rather complicated for the intended audience. In other parts of the book, Branch drifts constantly between the objective presentation of material and her personal experiences. This leads to a rather scattered, piecemeal book. It is illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Overall, this title would be of interest to libraries with extensive collections on African American life and to regional collections.?Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, GA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 5^-9. The Gullah people who live on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia are descendants of slaves who stayed after the emancipation. This account of their history, Creole language, folklore, and culture draws on scholarly sources and also on Branch's personal observations, interviews, and experiences on the islands. The narrative is dry, and the various parts aren't always smoothly integrated, but many readers will find the place and people of compelling interest, especially since Branch shows that the unique traditional culture, closely connected to West Africa and the West Indies, is now threatened by tourism and land development. There's a detailed bibliography of books and articles for those who want to read further. Throughout, black-and-white prints and photos focus on individual people and historical landmarks that tell a remarkable story. Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0525651853
• ISBN 13: 9780525651857
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112