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Gullah Geechee Indigenous Articulation in the Americas By Sharon Y. Fuller A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Jeffrey M. Romm, Co-Chair Professor Carolyn Finney, Co-Chair Professor Rachel A. Morello-Frosch Professor Isha Ray Fall 2015 Copyright 2015, Sharon Y. Fuller Abstract Gullah Geechee Indigenous Articulation in the Americas by Sharon Y. Fuller Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley Professors Jeffrey Romm and Carolyn Finney, Co-Chairs Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved West Africans who have articulated cultural traditions of their ancestors with the land- and seascapes of the Sea Islands. The ecological similarities of Sierra Leone’s coastal region facilitated the importation of African traditions into what became South Carolina, thus resulting in land-based cultural practices that can be defined in an unexpected way as indigenous (Reardon and TallBear 2012). The Gullah Geechee disrupts the dichotomy of traditional or historical indigeneity and diasporic identity (Clifford 2001, Yeh 2007). They are diasporic and also situated in a particular place. De jure sovereignty is not the reality but rather de facto assertions of belonging to the land. Rather than a biological hybridization inheritance analysis, my research uses a geographical and social type of co-constitution to illustrate Gullah Geechee indigenous articulation in the Americas (Ng'weno 2007, Sturm 2002). Rising from the legacies of the American South, the Gullah Geechee secured land abandoned after the civil war legally and through community sanctions. My analysis illustrates Gullah Geechee indigeneity and sovereignty constituted in relation to cultural practices linked to the land. Transitioning from a Western anthropocentric worldview to an African ethical framework of human and nonhuman reciprocity and cooperation, my research reveals the power dynamics of structures of authority producing identity and indigeneity within small-scale fisheries managed as common pool resources (CPR) in the Sea Islands. Although conventional resource management strategies typically ignore gendered perspectives in favor of male- biased frameworks that actually obscure women’s work, my study reveals Gullah Geechee indigenous livelihood strategies and self-determination pursuits inclusive of women’s critical engagement (Ray 2007). I also show how the performative is part of the identity politics of the Gullah Geechee as they articulate themselves as indigenous, but in a surprising way, in the Americas (Ebron 2002). 1 Dedication to my father who taught me the joy of fishing and to my mother who brought along the cast iron skillet knowing the sea would provide Lee and Dolores Jackson i Table of Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. ii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Who They Are: We Gullah! ........................................................................................................................... 1 Who I Am: Researcher and Storyteller ................................................................................................. 12 Indigeneity: Land is the Language ............................................................................................... 20 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 20 Identity and Indigeneity ............................................................................................................................ 22 Entangled Articulations: Race and Bureaucratization .................................................................... 30 Conclusion: Inscripted Landscapes ........................................................................................................ 40 Shifting Tides, Shifting Power: Gullah Geechee Governance .............................................. 43 Poverty, Policy and Power ........................................................................................................................ 43 State Governance: Participatory Approaches .................................................................................... 48 Shifting Tides: Resource Abundance ..................................................................................................... 59 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 64 Banking on the Sea: Gullah Geechee Livelihoods .......................................................................... 66 Family Business: Commercial .................................................................................................................. 68 Fresh Crab Here: Rural-Urban Economy .............................................................................................. 71 Crabbing for Food: Rural ........................................................................................................................... 75 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 78 Conclusion: Landscapes of Abundance ...................................................................................... 81 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 92 ii Acknowledgements My sincere appreciation to the gracious people of St. Helena Island for sharing your homes, stories, sights and sounds of your miraculous land- and seascapes. My personal and academic growth would not have been possible without the assistance of the Mack, Inabinett, Campbell, Atkins, Harden, Browne, Simmons, von Harten, McMillian, DeSaussure and Blake families. I would also like to thank the folks at the Penn Center, Beaufort County Library and University of South Carolina Environmental Health Sciences Department for their assistance. A special thank you to my dissertation committee for their guidance and commitment to my academic success. Rachel Morello-Frosch for demonstrating how to move beyond rhetoric and just get things done! Isha Ray for your persistence in constantly raising the bar while helping me accumulate the proper tools for my theoretical toolbox. Kim TallBear for your enthusiasm about my research, and dedication to my development as exceptional social theorist. Jeff Romm for insisting on excellence and encouraging me to trust my own voice. Carolyn Finney for your dedication to transformative pedagogy and showing me the power of stories. The incredible devotion and support of my family is the reason completion of this dissertation was possible. Sincere thanks to my sisters Janet, Juanetta and Dianne for being my unofficial dissertation support group that provided much needed care packages and quiets spaces to write, my daughters Keyana, Monique and Nicole for learning to crab, toss a cast net, always offering unique perspectives to my endless stories, and for falling in sync with the rhythm of the island to create a new tradition—St. Helena Island shadow dance. I would like to thank my grandsons Jovon, Daniel and Amir for always insisting I take a break and go fishing. I also extend the upmost gratitude to my husband L.C. for never hesitating to embark on yet another adventure together and for his love, infectious laughter and being the best storyteller I’ve ever known. A special thank you to the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program, Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship program, Environmental Science, Policy and Management Department, and the Center for Race and Gender Graduate Student Small Grant project for your generous support of my coursework, field studies and dissertation writing. iii The possibility to make visible is a concrete form of power —Carolyn Finney Indigenous knowledge views landscapes as inscriptions of cultural practices that bear signatures of specific ethnic traditions—Judith Carney Folks in the barrier islands—owned boats as in other places they own horses. They were known as saltwater farmers—David Cecelski Introduction The Gullah Geechee’s journey begins in the continent of Africa and continues in the continent of North America. They are co-constituted by the human and nonhuman inhabitants, histories and geographies, of both continents in addition to the space in between. Using Hall’s (1996) definition of relational governance in which different regimes of authority, not simply plural, but rather different regimes of truth constituted in discursive social formations, I analyze the effects of relational governance on indigenous practices. More specifically, my research analyzes the effects of shifting alignments of power between governmental agencies, recreational homeowners and indigenous communities in relation

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