ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. — Minnie “Gracie” Gadson claps her hands and stomps her feet against the floorboards, lifting her voice in a song passed down from her enslaved ancestors who were forced to work the cotton and rice plantations of the South Carolina Sea Islands.

It’s a Gullah spiritual, and the 78-year-old singer is one of a growing group of artists and scholars trying to preserve these sacred songs and their Gullah Geechee culture for future generations. kAm“x 92G6 2 A2DD:@? E@ D:?8 E96D6 D@?8D[” v25D@? D2:5]k^Am kAm~? 2 C646?E DF>>6C 52J[ 96C G@:46 C2?8 @FE :?D:56 r@77:? !@:?E !C2:D6 w@FD6] xE’D @?6 @7 E9C66 C6>2:?:?8 H@@56? DECF4EFC6D @? $E] w6=6?2 xD=2?5 E92E @?46 D6CG65 2D 2 A=246 @7 H@CD9:A 7@C E96 6?D=2G65[ 2?5 =2E6C[ 7@C 86?6C2E:@?D @7 7C66 q=24< p>6C:42?D]k^Am kAmv25D@

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