The first house we stopped at was that of 1Ed Thorpe, a familiar and well liked character in the section. A small, neatly inscribed placard placed near the gate bore the owner's name. The attractive house was set well back from the road in a large grove of oak trees. A whitewashed fence protected the property.
The old man, who was eighty-three years old, was working in the side yard adjoining the house. His broad, erect shoulders and his bright alert eyes made him appear to be much younger than his actual age. He told us proudly that he had lived in this particular house for twenty-five years. Then he apologized because his present circumstances prevented him from having the house and fence repainted.
We discussed native Africans and Ed Thorpe remembered that his grandmother had come from Africa.
1aShe come frum Africa an uh name wuz Patience Spaulding, he began. She tell me dat in Africa she use tuh eat wile tings. I membuh she use tuh go out in duh woods roun yuh an bring back some kine uh weed wut she cook. She call it 'lam quato' It look lak pokeberry tuh me.
1bShe say all duh people in Africa loves red. Das how dey ketch um. I mean duh folks wut bring um yuh as slabes. Dey put up a red clawt weah dey would see it. Wen dey git close tuh duh boat, dey grab um an bring um yuh. She say das duh way dey ketch huh.
1cWen muh gran pray, she kneel down on duh flo. She bow uh head down tree time an she say 'Ameen,Ameen,Ameen'.
1dMuh gran say deah wuz lots uh cunjuh in Africa. Deah wuz some men wut could make a pot bile widout fyuh an deah wuz some wut could fly. She tell me dat deah wuz witches wut rode folks. Dey could take off deah skins an hang um up an go out as cats. Wen dey come back duh nex mawnin, dey would put on duh skins. Deah is folks roun heah tuhday wut says dey caahn sleep nights cuz duh witches ride um.
1eFolks say duh road tuh Maringo is hanted. I use tuh lib at Maringo some time back, but I nebuh did see no spirits. Once I tink I see one. Wen I git closuh, it tan out tuh be a big dog.
Later that day we stopped at a neat whitewashed cottage and talked for a while with 2Isaac Basden, a blind basketmaker about sixty years of age. The old man had learned his trade during his youth before he had gone blind and now supported himself comfortably in this manner.
We found him sitting in the front room, surrounded by his work. A number of finished baskets were also in evidence. They varied widely in size and shape and were all of the coil type. Many were fanners, while there were also a number of large round baskets, about twenty inches in diameter, with matching covers that fitted well down over the rim. Isaac used bulrushes and grasses for his material and worked with a sure deft touch that insured sturdy construction.
He remembered that drums had been used for a variety of purposes during his youth. He said, 2aI use tuh dance tuh duh drum. I recall wen dey beat duh drum tuh call duh people on Harris Neck tuhgedduh fuh a dance aw fewnul. Cose, dey hab a diffunt beat wen dey call um tuh a settin-up aw fewnul frum duh one dey use tuh call um tuh a dance. Deah wuz two kine uh drum. One dey call duh kittle drum, an one wuz duh bass drum. It stan bout two an a half foot high. Dey use tuh alluz hab a settin-up wen somebody die. Wen folks would go tuh duh settin-up, dey would gib um bread an coffee.
2bDey still hole ribbuh baptisms yuh. Dey git tuh duh ribbuh an attuh dey pray an sing up on duh bank, duh preachuh take duh candidates down in duh ribbuh. Fo be baptize each up um, he say a prayer tuh duh ribbuh an ax fuh all duh sins tuh be wash away.
Remembering what we had been told about the haunted road to Maringo, we questioned Isaac and he said, 2cYes'm, I hab heah bout duh hanted road tuh Maringo on duh Young Man Road. Lots uh folks say deah is spirits roun deah. Wen yuh try tuh pass duh fawk in duh road, duh spirits stop yuh sometime an wohn let yuh by. Some uh duh spirits mus be good, fuh Ise heahd one story bout a man who wuz passin by an all ub a sudden his hawse jis stop shawt in his tracks. Jis wouldn go anudduh step. Duh man try an try, but he couldn make duh hawse moob. Den he see a spirit come long an it take hole ub duh hawse bridle and lead him long. Duh hawse go right long. Den duh spirit disappeah. I hab heahd lots uh stories bout dat road but uh nebuh seen nuttn muhsef.
Our next interview was an unusually delightful one. Sitting on the front port of 3Liza Basden's small, compactly constructed brown house, we listened to her comments about the prevailing beliefs and customs. The scene before us was restful. The garden planted at the sides and front of the house was enclosed by a low wire fence. Within this enclosure a number of dogs and chickens scuttled about. At a short distance fromt he house stood an iron pump and an immense rusted iron pot, probably used in the past for boiling clothes. On all sides as far as the eye could see were wast stretches of green land, shaded by massive-trunked, moss-draped trees and covered with an abundance of semi-tropical foliage and underbrush. Here and there could be glimpsed the slanting roofs of neighboring houses.
When we first arrived Liza, a pretty golden-skined, rather heavy-set woman about eighty years of age, and a small black grandchild were the only occupants of the porch. She told us she had recently come home from a visit to children in the North. Presently her husband and a daughter approached without speaking and sat down unobtrusively in a corner. For the most part they listened to the conversation, contributing only an occasional remark.
3aI wuz bawn with a caul, Liza told us, pausing in her task of peeling and eating figs from the pan that she held in her lap. That means I see ghos. Least I could see em till aftuh I stop havin chillun. Then I stop seein em
3bThree of my chillun they bawn with cauls too. They wuz always skeeduh than othuhs. They wuz always fraid of the dahk an nevuh lak tuh go off by themselfs. I nevuh know jis wut they see.
What did the ghost that you saw look like? we inquired.
A reflective expression crossed Liza's round pleasant face and she nodded her gray head with its neatly pinned braids.
3cThey peah jis as nachral as anybody. Most of em ain got no heads. Jis go right along down the path. One time I see a man go right down that path theah. I go out tuh see who he wuz an all of a sudden he disappeah. Theah wuzn't no foot tracks aw nuthin. I nevuh see im no mo. I think maybe he wuz gahdin buried treasure.
3dAnothuh time I look out in the yahd an theah wuz a hawg jis a eatin up the cawn. That wuz the biggest hawg I evud did see. He stand theah an keep eatin an eatin. I run an tell muh huzbun and he drop wut he wuz doin an come runnin. Wen we git theah, the hawg done disappeah. Theah wuzn't no sign of im an the cawn wuz all right theah. It didn't look lak anybody bin eatin on it uhtall.
3eThen one time I see a crowd of cows in the field. Theah wuz a big bull in the middle. They wuz jis a cuttin down the cawn. Theah wuz a big empty space weah they have already eat. I run tuh weah muh brothuh wuz an tell im, tuh come quick. We run weah the cows wuz but wen we git theah, they have all vanished. They wuz all gone. Theah wuz no tracks an all the cawn wuz grown back. All of a sudden I feel a terrible pain. I could hahdly git tuh the house. That's the way it is bout the spirits. Ef yuh tell yuh see em and they disappeah an no one else can see em, then it cause yuh tuh git sick
After a while Liza remembered an incident that had been related to her by her grandfather and she told us, 3fMuh gran, he see a deah come down the bluff. He run quick an jump on his back. The deah run all aroun the woods. He teah an scratch an try tuh shake muh gran off. He couldn do it. Finally he run intuh the rivuh. Muh gran jump off an make it tuh the sho. He wuz so tired he wuz mos dead.
Was there no protection against the visits of these creatures from the spirit world, we wanted to know. All of the little group assembled on the porch shook their heads and mumbles a reply.
3gYes'm, mos of the folks carry sumpm fuh pruhtection, said Liza. These keep othuh folks frum wukin cunjuh on em too. They's made of haiah, an nails, an graveyahd dut, sometimes from pieces of clot an string. They tie em all up in a lill bag. Some of em weahs it roun the wrist, some of em weahs it roun the neck, an some weahs a dime on the ankle. Then ef somebody put down cunjuh fuh em it tun black an they git anothuh one tuh wawd off the evil. Some of em has a frizzled chicken in the yahd. People do say they kin dig up cunjuh and keep it frum wukin gense yuh.
3hYuh heah all the time bout folks wut is cunjuhed. They gits crippled up an ef they dohn do nothin bout it, some of em dies.
We asked if river baptisms were still held in the section and Liza answered, 3iYes'm, they hole the baptisms right down yonduh in the rivuh. They always hole em on the ebb tide; that's so the sins be washed away. All the pruhcession mahch down tuh the rivuh. The preachuh lead the way. Fus the preachuh stan on the bank an pray. Then he take the candidates one by one an dip em in the watuh. Then he make a prayuh fuh the rivuh tuh wash away the sins. I call that prayuh 'the matrinal'.
Liza was unable to explain just what this term meant, but she said it was always applied to the prayer to the river. She told us, too, that 'settin-ups' were held for those who died and that the mourners sat up all night with the body and sang and prayed. 3jIn the ole days they always use tuh beat the drum at the funeral an they still does it tuhday. As they take the body tuh the graveyahd, they beat the drum as they move long. They put the body in the grave. Then they mahch roun an sing an beat the drum.
We had been told that several midwives rendered services to those residing in the section. We asked Liza about this and she told us, 3kAnna Johnson, she's my sistuh. She's a midwife an she tends tuh lots of folks roun heah. Those widwifes sho knows wut tuh do. They use a shahp knife aw sizzuhs tuh cut the pain. Once wen I wuz in pain a midwife put a peah of sizzuhs unduh muh pilluh. All of a sudden the pain stop right quick. The pain wuz cut right off.
4Josephine Stephens, one of the older residents of the island, lived a short distance from Liza Basden. Her house was set back several hundred yards from the highway in the midst of a large field. There was not pathway and in order to get to the house we had to cut directly through the field. As we neared the gate at the front of the house a tall gaunt woman, who we learned was Josephine's daughter, ran to meet us. It appeared that the modther had been ill for some time past and the younger woman had been caring for her.
As we talked with Josephine, the daughter stood in an adjoining room, ironing clothes. She stopped every now and then to take part in the conversation. The two women were utterly different types. Josephine, dressed becomingly in a blue and white checked gingham outfit, was the antebellum type of Negro. The daughter, tall, thin and dasing, and probably in her forties, represented a more modern era. She had on a blue checked sport shirt, a white skirt upon the surface of which was the dim outline of the trade name of a flour mill, and a pair of chiny black satin bedroom slippers. Her two front teeth were gold and shone and sparkled as the talked. Two large gold hoop earrings dangled beneath her close cropped straightened hair.
5I bin wukin ovuh at St. Simon, she explained to us. Befo that I had a good job up Nawth. My mothuh git sick tho, an she need me tuh take keah of huh. That's why I come heah an stay. She gittin tuh be long in yeahs an caahn do so well by uhsef.
The mother did not know exactly how old she was but she said she had been about fourteen at the close of the War between the States. We questioned her about her recollections of early days, but her memory was rather clouded. She answered pleasantly, however, and when she was not talking to us mumbled softly to herself.
4aI do know dat folks bawn wid a caul kin see spirits, she admitted. Plenty uh folks roun yuh say duh spirits peah tuh um.
When we inquired about drums being beaten at funerals, she shook her head stubbornly and refused to say anything on the subject.
The daughter, overhearing the conversation, paused in her task of ironing, and said, 6Yes'm Dasso. They beats the drum tuhday at the fewnul. Specially ef yuh blongs tuh a awganization, they goes right along in the fewnul pruhcession an beats the drum as they mahch. I remembuh heahin bout in the ole days they beat out messages on the drum. Let the folks know wen sumpm wuz bout tuh happen. Wen they give a dance ovuh on St. Catherine, they beat the drum tuh let the folks heah know bout it.
At a funeral, the bottles and dishes and other possessions belonging to the departed person were left on the grave, the Women informed us. 7The spirit need these, the younger woman explained, jis lak wen they's live. Evrybody mahch roun duh grave in a succle an shout and pray.
We inquired if some people in the section were afraid to eat certain foods. Once more Josephine shook her head in negation.
The obliging daughter who listened intently to everything that was said again interceded. 8I do heah bout that. Theah is some folks wut caahn eat suttn foods. They say it's bad luck an they nevuh do eat it. Right now theah's lots of foods wut some folks dohn eat.
At this point in the conversation the older woman brightened and told us about the harvest festivals during plantation days.
4bWe hab big feas. Ebrybody bring some ub duh fus crops. We all gib tanks fuh duh crop an we dance an sing.
Shortly after this she again fell to mumbling and muttering unintelligibly and seemed unwilling to be drawn again into the conversation. She did confide in us that she had lived in her house for over fifty-eight years and she proudly displayed her immaculate blue outfit which she said her daughter had recently purchased for her. As it was growing late and we had other interviews to obtain in the vicinity, we concluded our visit. The two women urged us to return soon. Setting out again to make an uncertain jagged path across the field, we looked back and saw Josephine, a rather tragic tall figure huddled at the end of the porch. The daughter waved gaily. Her gold earrings glinted in the sun.
When we found 9Anna Johnson, she was standing in the front yard of Ed Thorpe's talking with a talk middle-aged woman who, we later learned was 10Rosa Sallins, her niece and Liza Basden's daughter.
The two women walked over to the car and greeted us. We inquired about the various methods the midwife employed and she said, 9aTuh cut a pain yuh use a shahp instrument, lak a knife, aw a peah of sizzuhs. Yuh put it unduh duh pilluh on duh bed. Duh pusson who is sick musn see yah do it aw it wohn wuk. Sometime yuh use a smoothin ion. Dat cut duh pain too.
Rosa, who had been rather impatiently waiting an opportunity to speak, now offered, 10aLots ub duh chillun bawn wid a caul. Ef dey is bawn wid a caul, dey kin see spirits.
The midwife looked solemn. 9bFolks hab tuh be mighty keahful wen duh chile is bawn lak dat. Ef dey dohn do sumpm bout it, duh chile will be hanted all its life. It'll alluz be fraid uh ghos.
What can be done so that the child won't be haunted? we asked.
9cDey dry duh caul an make a tea out ub it an hab duh chile drink it. Den all duh ebil will disappeah. Duh chile will see ghos, but dey will nebuh hahm um an he wohn be afraid ub um.
Rosa exposed her large white teeh in a broad smile. 10bI wuz bawn wid teet. Had two front teet wen I wuz bawn.
Neither Rosa nor the midwife knew the significance of this unusual occurence, though both women thought it was probably a good luck sign.
Anna was reminded of some old remedies that she had found beneficial to teething babies. 9dYuh take a alligatuh tusk an clean it an shine it an hang it roun duh neck uh duh chile, she explained. Den yuh kin take duh foot ub a groun mole. I fuhgits wich one it is. Wich is it, Rosa?
10cDohn mattuh wich one it is jis so long its duh foefoot.
9eYuh dry it, put it in a sack made out uh a new piece of clawt an hang it roun duh baby's neck. Sho heps wid duh teethin. I knows plenty bout cuos lak dat, she concluded. I ain lak dese root folks, dough, das alluz fixin people.
Rosa agreed with her aunt. 10dSho is plenty rootin yuh. It goin on all duh time. Deah's plenty uh root people wut is alluz wukin gense folks.
9fDey git a grudge gense yuh an put down sumpm fuh yuh, supplemented Anna, an pretty soon yuh dohn know yuh ownsef.
10eSometime dey put it in yuh food, this from Rosa again. Ef yuh got a enemy, yuh dohn dare eat wut yuh lak. Nubuh know wen deah's sumpm in duh food, en ef deah is, yuh sho wohn las. Cose ef yuh weahs a han, it'll wahn yuh an keep duh cunjuh frum wukkin. Lots uh folks carries some kine uh chahm all duh time.
10fSome uh our folks yuh keep frizzle chicken. Dey dig up cunjuh wut is laid down fuh yuh an let yuh know wen somebody is aftuh yuh.
The midwife told us that she had recently returned to Harris Neck, after having lived for many years in Waycross. We asked her which community she preferred, and she said, 9gI lak it in Waycross, missus. Duh two place jis ain nuttn lak. Tings is sho diffunt yuh. Duh folks jis dohn ack duh same. Yuh wouldn evne know dey wuz human. Soon as kin Ise goin back tuh Waycross. I jis dohn lak it heah.
The conversation turned to drums and in regards to this subject Rosa spoke up emphatically. 10gYes'm, I membuh bout how some time back dey use tuh beat out messages on duh drum. Dat wuz tuh let us know wen deah wuz ta be a dance aw a frolic. Wen dey hab a dance obuh on St. Catherines, dey beat duh drum tuh tell us bout it. Duh soun would carry obuh duh watuh an we would heah it plain as anyting. Den duh folks heah beat duh drum tuh let em know bout it in udduh settlements.
The women also spoke of drums in connection with death customs. They told us that they were still beaten by those in the procession accompanying the body to the grave.
10hEbrybody put duh hans on duh body tuh say goodbye, Rosa told us.
9hYuh speak tuh duh pusson, too, an tell um a las message, said Anna.
9iYuh put dishes an bottles an all duh pretty pieces wut dey lak on duh grabe. Yuh alluz break deze tings fo yuh put um down.
We wanted to know the reason for doing this, for we had been informed on other occasions that it was done so that no one would be tempted to steal.
Rosa, however, stated an entirely different motive.
10iYuh break duh dishes so dat duh chain will be broke, Yuh see, dun one pusson is dead an ef yuh dohn break duh tins, den duh udduhs in duh fambly will die too. Dey will folluh right long. Folks alluz hab two fewnuls. We hab one wen dey die an den once a yeah we hab a suhvice fuh ebrybody wut died durin duh yeah. Duh preachuh say a prayuh fuhrum all.
From this source we obtained added verification of the fact that river baptisms were still held.
10jWe alluz baptize on duh ebb tide, said Rosa. Duh watuh washes dun sin away. Duh preachuh pray up on duh bank an den wen he baptize duh candidate, he pray tuh duh ribbuh tuh take away duh sins.
Later in the conversation the women recalled harvest festivals that had been held many years before. 9jDat wuz allaz a big time. Anna's rather somber face lit up at the remembrance of the festive occasion. Ebrybody bring some ub duh fus crop tuh duh chuch an we prepeahs a big feas. We pray an gib tanks fuh duh crop an pray fuh duh nex yeah. We all eat an sing an dance. One uh duh dances call duh Buzzud Lope. We still dance dat tuhday.
Rosa told us proudly that she was a granddaughter of Katherine Basden who had been recognized as a leader among the Negroes in the section.
10kMe an muh brudduh wuz muh grandmudduh's favorites, she said. She alluz said she lak us bettuhn all duh udduh chillun. We I wuz only bout twelve yeahs ole, she tell me wen I grow up I would take huh place an carry on duh wuk she wuz doin.
Moving her powerful shoulders in rhythm and clapping her hands together, the woman sang us a song that her grandmother had crooned to newborn babies as she held them in her arms. The words were, for the most part, indistinguishable. Over and over we caught one repeated phrase, "nikki yimi, nikki yimi"
10lMuh granmudduh wuz took very sick. She knew she wuz gonuh die. Dat wuz jis wen muh oldes chile wuz bawn. Muh granmudduh jis refuse tuh die fo she seen me an duh baby. She say she hab tuh see us fo she die. Ebry day she ax fuhrus. She git weakuh an weakuh but she jis wohn die. Wen duh baby wuz a few days ole, I git dress an go tuh see uh. Fus I wuz fraid tuh bring duh baby intuh duh sick ruhm fuh dey say it bad luck fuh somebody bout tuh die tuh look at a baby. Sometime duh baby die too. I tell dis tuh muh gran and she laugh at me an tell me she ain gonuh take duh baby wid uh. Den I bring duh baby in an she sing tuh uh and hole uh in uh ahms. She tell me she wuz gonuh die now an dat I wuz tuh continue uh wuk wid duh folks yuh. Right attuh dat she die.
For a while longer the woman chatted on in a friendly manner, discussing various incidents that had taken place in the neighborhood. In parting they presented us graciously with some fresh figs from the garden and asked us to visit them again whenever we returned to the settlement.
1Ed Thorpe, Harris Neck.
1aShe came from Africa and her name was Patience Spaulding. She told me that in Africa she used to eat wild things. I remember she use to go out in the woods around here and bring back some kind of weed that she cooked. She called it 'lam quato'. It looked like pokeberry to me.
1bShe said all the people in Africa love red. That's how they caught them. I mean the folks that brought them here as slaves. They put up a red cloth where they would see it. When they got close to the boat, they grabbed them and brought them here. She said that's the way they caught her.
1cWhen my grandmother prays, she kneels down on the floor. She bows her head down three times and she says "Amen, Amen, Amen".
1dMy grandma said there was lots of conjure in Africa. There were some men who could make a pot boil without fire and there were some who could fly. She told me that there were witches that rode folks. They could take off their skins and hang them up and go out as cats. When they come back the next morning, they would put on the skins. There are folks around here today that say they can't sleep nights because the witches ride them.
1eFolks say that the road to Maringo is haunted. I used to live at Maringo some time back, but I never did see any spirits. Once I thought I saw one. When I got closer, it turned out to be a big dog.
2Isaac Basden, Harris Neck.
2aI use to dance to the drum. I recall when they beat the drum to call the people on Harris Neck together for a dance or a funeral. Because, they had a different beat when they called them to a settin-up or funeral from the one they use to call them to a dance. There were two kinds of drums. One they called the kettle drum, and one was the bass drum. It stands about two and a half foot high. They use to always have a settin-up when somebody died. When folks would go to the settin-up, they would give them bread and coffee.
2bThey still hold river baptisms here. They get to the river and after they pray and sing up on the back, the preacher takes the candidates down in the river. Before he baptizes each of them, he says a prayer to the river and asks for all the sins to be washed away.
2cYes ma'am, I have heard about the haunted road to Maringo on the Young Man Road. Lots of folks say there are spirits around there. When you try to pass the fork in the road, the spirits stop you sometimes and wont let you by. Some of the spirits must be good, for I heard one story about a man who was passing by and all of the sudden his horse just stopped short in his tracks. Just wouldn't go another step. The man tried and tried, but he couldn't make the horse move. Then he saw a spirit come along and it took hold of the horse's bridle and led him along. The horse went right along. Then the spirit disappeared. I have heard lots of stories about that road but I've never seen anything myself.
3Liza Basden, Harris Neck.
3aI was born with a caul. That means I see ghosts. Least I could see them until after I stopped having children. Then I stopped seeing them.
3bThree of my children were born with cauls too. They were always more scared than others. They were always afraid of the dark and never liked to go off by themselves. I never knew just what they saw.
3cThey appear just as natural as anybody. Most of them haven't got any heads. Just go right along down the path. One time I saw a man go right down that path there. I went out to see who he was and all of the sudden he disappeared. There wasn't any foot tracks or anything. I never saw him anymore. I think maybe he was guarding buried treasure.
3dAnother time I looked out in the yard and there was a hog just eating up the corn. That was the biggest hog I ever did see. He stood there and kept eating and eating. I ran and told my husband and he dropped what he was doing and came running. When we got there, the hog had disappeared. There wasn't any sign of him and the corn was all right there. It didn't look like anybody had been eating on it at all.
3eThen one time I saw a crowd of cows in the field. There was a big bull in the middle. They were just cutting down the corn. There was a big empty space where they had already eaten. I ran to where my brother was and told him, to come quick. We ran where the cows were but when we got there, they had all vanished. They were all gone. There was no tracks and all the corn had grown back. All of the sudden I felt a terrible pain. I could hardly get to the house. That's the way it is about the spirits. If you tell that you saw them and they disappeared and no one else can see them, then it causes you to get sick.
3fMy grandfather, he saw a deer come down the bluff. He ran quick and jumped on his back. The deer ran all around the woods. He tore and scratched and tried to shake my grandfather off. He couldn't do it. Finally he ran into the river. My grandfather jumped off and made it to the shore. He was so tired he was almost dead.
3gYes ma'am, most of the folks carry something for protection. These keep other folks from working conjure on them too. They're made of hair, and nails, and graveyard dirt, sometimes from pieces of cloth and string. They tie them all up in a little bag. Some of them wear it around the wrist, some of them wear it around the neck, and some wear a dime on the ankle. Then if somebody puts down conjure for them it turns black and they get another one to ward off the evil. Some of them have a frizzled chicken in the yard. People do say they can dig up a conjure and keep it from working against you.
3hYou hear all the time about folks that are conjured. They get crippled up and if they don't do nothing about it, some of them die.
3iYes ma'am, they hold the baptisms right down yonder in the river. They always hold them on the ebb tide; that's so the sins can be washed away. All the procession marches down to the river. The preacher leads the way. First the preacher stands on the bank and prays. Then he takes the candidates one by one and dips them in the water. Then he makes a prayer for the river to wash away the sins. I call that prayer 'the matrinal'.
3jIn the old days they always used to beat the drums at the funeral and they still do it today. As they take the body to the graveyard, they beat the drum as they move along. They put the body in the grave. Then they march around and sing and beat the drum.
3kAnna Johnson, she's my sister. She's a midwife and she tends to lots of folks around here. Those midwives sure know what to do. They use a sharp knife or scissors to cut the pain. Once when I was in pain a midwife put a pair of scissors under my pillow. All of the sudden the pain stopped right quick. The pain was cut right off.
4Josephine Stevens, Harris Neck.
4aI do know that folks born with a caul can see spirits. Plenty of folks around here say the spirits appear to them.
4bWe have a big feast. Everybody brought some of the first crops. We all gave thanks for the crops and we danced and sang.
5I've been working over at St. Simon. Before that I had a good job up North. My mother got sick though, and she needs me to take care of her. That's why I came here and stayed. She's getting to be long in years and can't do so well by herself.
6Yes ma'am, that's so. They beat the drum today at the funeral. Especially if you belong to an organization, they go right along in the funeral procession and beat the drums as they march. I remember hearing about in the old days they beat out messages on the drum. Let the folks know when something was about to happen. When they give a dance over on St. Catherine, they beat the drum to let the folks hear know about it.
7The spirit needs these, just like when they were alive. Everybody marches around the grave in a circle and shout and pray.
8I do hear about that. There are some folks that cant eat certain foods. They say it's bad luck and they never do eat it. Right now there's lots of foods that some folks dont eat.
9Anna Johnson, Harris Neck.
9aTo cut a pain you use a sharp instrument, like a knife or a pair of scissors. You put it under the pillow on the bed. The person who is seck must not see you do it or it wont work. Sometimes you use a smoothing iron. That'll cut the pain too.
9bFolks have to be mighty careful when the child is born like that. If they don't do something about it, the child will be haunted all its life. It'll always be afraid of ghosts.
9cThey dry the caul and make a tea out of it and have the child drink it. Then all the ghosts will disappear. The child will still see ghosts, but they will never harm him and he won't be afraid of them.
9dYou take an alligator tusk and clean it and shine it and hang it around the neck of the child. Then you can take the foot of a ground mole. I forget which one it is. Which is it Rosa?
9eYou dry it, put it in a sack made out of a new piece of cloth and hang it around the baby's neck. Sure helps with the teething. I know plenty about cures like that. I ain't like these root folks, though, that's always fixing people.
9fThey get a grudge against you and put down something for you, and pretty soon you don't know yourself.
9gI like it in Waycross, Miss. The two places just arent' anything alike. Things are sure different here. The folks just don't act the same. You wouldn't even know they were human. Soon as I can I'm going back to Waycross. I just don't like it here.
9hYou speak to the person, too, and tell them a last message.
9iYou put dishes and bottles and all the pretty pieces that they liked on the grave. You always break these things before you put them down.
9jThat was always a big time. Everybody brought some of the first crop to the church and we prepared a big feast. We prayed and gave thanks for the crop and prayed for the next year. We all ate and sang and danced. One of the dances called the Buzzard Lop. We still dance that today.
10Rosa Sallins, Harris Neck.
10aLots of the children are born with a caul. If they are born with a caul, they can see spirits.
10bI was born with teeth. Had two front teech when I was born.
10cDon't matter which one it is just as long as it's the forefoot.
10dSure is plenty rooting here. It goes on all the time. There's plenty of root people that are always working against folks.
10eSometimes they put it in your food. If you have an enemy, you don't dare eat what you like. Never know when there's something in the food, and if there is, you sure won't last. Because if you wear a hand, it'll warn you and keep the conjure from working. Lots of folks carry some kind of charm all the time.
10fSome of our folks here keep frizzle chicken. They dig up conjure that is laid down for you and let you know when somebody is after you.
10gYes ma'am, I remember about how some time back they use to beat out messages on the drum. That was to let us know when there was to be a dance or a frolic. When they have a dance over on St. Catherine's, they beat the drum to tell us about it. The sound would carry over the water and we would hear it plain as anything. Then the folks here beat the drum to let them know about it in other settlements.
10hEverybody put their hands on the body to say goodbye.
10iYou break the dishes so that the chain will be broken, You see, the one person is dead and if you don't break the things, then the others in the family will die too. They will follow right along. Folks always have two funerals. We have one when they die and then once a year we have a service for everybody that died during the year. The preacher says a prayer for all of them.
10jWe always baptize on the ebb tide. The water washes the sins away. The preacher prays up on the bank and when he baptizes the candidate, he prays to the river to take away the sins.
10kMe and my brother were my grandmother's favorites. She always said she liked us better than all the other children. When I was only about twelve years old, she told me when I grew up I would take her place and carry on the work she was doing.
10lMy grandmother was taken very sick. She knew she was going to die. That was just when my oldest child was born. My grandmother just refused to die before she saw me and the baby. She said she had to see us before she died. Every day she asked for us. She got weaker and weaker, but she just wouldn't die. When the baby was a few days old, I got dressed and went to see her. First I was afraid to bring the baby into the sick room for they say it's bad luck for somebody about to die to look at a baby. Sometimes the baby dies too. I told this to my gran and she laughed at me and told me she aint going to take the baby with her. Then I brought the baby in and she sang to her and held her in her arms. She told me she was going to die now and that I was to continue her work with the folks here. Right after that she died.