Gullah Geechee Women Preserve Heritage Through Basketry, Oyster Conservation, and Foodways

In the Lowcountry, Gullah Geechee women are preserving their cultural heritage through various practices, including sweetgrass basket weaving, oyster reef conservation, and culinary traditions. Lynette D. Youson, a fifth-generation weaver instructed by her mother, Marilyn W. Dingle, upholds a coiled basketry tradition rooted in West and Central Africa. Their creations are part of the Smithsonian collections. Tia Clark, who founded Casual Crabbing With Tia in Charleston, conducts crabbing tours that promote ecological awareness and dispel myths about Black relationships with nature. Chef Amethyst Ganaway, via her pop-up Bramble and contributions to Eater and Garden & Gun, delves into the African American influences on Southern cuisine, reimagining dishes like Edna Lewis's red rice. Victoria Smalls, the former executive director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, highlights the interconnectedness of these practices. Established by Congress in 2006, the corridor covers 12,000 square miles across coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. While development and environmental changes threaten access to sweetgrass marshes and waterways, Youson is teaching her children and grandchildren the art of weaving, asserting, "If they don't learn it, it stops with me."