HOME
Home to me is Erie, Pennsylvania. That is where
I was born and where I grew up, Erie is my land. I have lived in Allentown for about 7 years now
but I still consider Erie home. Erie holds all of my coming of age memories, my
memories of my ancestors, and our Italian American background. I always love to
go back and visit.
I still have some relatives in Erie however like
me many have moved away. My family’s roots are in Erie but there was never any
ancestral land passed down through the generations. As our old would die their
house and property would be sold to buyers outside of the family.
My relatives have scattered all over the
country. We no longer have a strong family identity. There is nothing of physical
substance that ties us together. We are all isolated in our individual lives,
my family does feel whole.
After reading about the Geechee people on Sapelo
Island I’m envious of their unity and their strong ties to their homeland. In
the article “Saving Sapelo” Linda Lange states “Sapelo’s inhabitants guard
their island with determination. They want to preserve the pristine natural
environment ant their agricultural heritage” (page 2). These people highly
value their land, it is part of their identity.
They survived for generations respecting the
soil of Sapelo Island. This soil produced their crops and they believed it had healing powers, it was their life
source. This land also holds the remains of their deceased. They are part of
the land and the land is part of them. In the book “God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man” Cornelia
illustrates how the Geechee people regard the land they live on as part of them
in explaining the burial of a woman’s afterbirth. “This was the first part of
you that went back to the earth. The rest of you would follow later, when you
died, but the afterbirth went first, and that connected you to the earth then
and to Sapelo. Wherever else you might go, Sapelo would be your true home”
(page 77).
Sapelo Island also contains the spirits of the
Geechee people’s African descants and the distinct belief system passed down by
them. These diverse beliefs help characterize the Geechee people. This is a
uniqueness that would not distinguish them if they didn’t live on Sapelo Island.
Like me most people lose some of their family’s
culture when they leave their homeland. I commend and support the effort of the
people of Sapelo trying to keep what remains of their culture alive. It is a
fight worth fighting and it is their right to maintain land ownership of their
Island.
LAND FOR SALE IN HOG HAMMOCK
