Haines, AK & Beaufort, SC - A Contrast of Similarities & Differences

For the past several days, I've been thinking, and asking myself, "I wonder what folk here in Haines, AK perceive about Melba and me being here - to assist in having a cultural exchange with Beaufort, SC?

I can think of any number of questions that could arise in person's minds - upon hearing that defining explanation of our presence here.  However, I'm not going to spend time or energy, at this time - speculating about what those questions might be.  I am, however, seriously attempting to maintain an internal dialogue between what I think are some of the questions, that might be raised, and my responses - as I develop and share these "blog" thoughts.

Melba and I, are former full-time residents, who continue to reside part-time in  Beaufort.   Along with our long-time friend, and now a Haines, AK resident, Carol Tuynman, we are the linchpins, who currently form the connecting bridge between Beaufort and Haines, AK.   Therefore, I am going to go ahead, and "jump into the water" - so to speak - and offer my perspective of what a person - going from Haines to Beaufort - would see, feel, and experience upon their arrival.

I feel that I can legitimately offer that perspective - being a person who has lived in Beaufort County, SC for 32 years, and who now, is currently in the process of experiencing Haines, AK, and something of what the life and residents here - are like.

So, what do I see are some of the similarities and differences, that would be experienced by someone from Haines - traveling south, and spending a block of time in Beaufort?  What is there about the two towns that makes having a cultural exchange - a positive and potentially - life-enhancing experience for persons within both communities?

At the top of my list is geography.  Each town's geography is so distinctively conspicuous.  Geographically, there are several interesting contrasts.

Beaufort County, SC lies along the inward-sloping curvature of the SE coast of the U.S. - about 60 miles south of Charleston, SC and about 40 miles north of Savannah, GA.  The reality is that Beaufort County is actually a composite of about a 100 islands - the more well-known, and populated ones being Hilton Head, Port Royal, Daufuskie, Fripp, St. Helena, Parris and Lady's Island.  At it highest elevation, Beaufort County, SC is no more than 25 or so feet above sea level.

Thus, given its geographical setting, hurricanes - with all their destructive force and power - periodically demonstrate an indiscriminate and random ability to severely disrupt the lives of families and communities.   Several years ago, Melba and I were happy that our experience with a hurricane - whose traveling name was Hugo - was something akin to a passing acquaintance!!  Many of our friends had more than a passing acquaintance with Hugo!!

Unlike Beaufort, SC, with its flat, coastal setting, Haines, AK has its identity - from its location on the famed Alaskan Inside Passage.  Thus, majestic snow-capped mountains - that descend to the water's edge - form a captivating and geographically defining sense of presence.  However, as is true in Beaufort, SC, so it is also true in Haines. AK.  The many and vast waters that surround and cradle each community, are a vitally, critical element of each community's life - both recreationally and economically.

Shrimp, crabs, clams, and fish - the marine life that teems within the coastal waters and marshes, as they are daily inundated, and then emptied by the rhythmic flow of the ocean's tides - is as important to life in Beaufort; as are the salmon, euchalon, crabs, and other sea life, living in the tidal flows - that for centuries has been, and continues to be of vital importance for life in Haines, AK.

What do I see as being the most significant geographical differences?   I think - without a doubt - it has to be the majestic, snow-capped mountains and the glacier ranges - that embrace and encompass Haines, AK - and all of this narrow stretch of SE Alaska.  When a person initially visits Beaufort and the SC Sea Islands, it's usually the majestic, stately old live-oaks with their hanging moss, and the warm, sandy beach - that seduces, infatuates, and continues to echo within one's heart - the message - "again; you must come again"!

Here in Haines, I think it's accurate to say, that the infatuation and developing love, is from the attachment that occurs with the snow-capped mountains, and with their commanding presence - coupled with all the rivers, fish, wildlife, and sporting adventures that these mountain and river areas offer - in a vast and rich abundance!

For someone traveling from Haines, AK to Beaufort, SC - for any extended period of time, however, the one distinctive difference - that would be readily apparent - is the focus on history that permeates Beaufort.  The entire downtown area - encompassing several square blocks - is designated and listed on the National Historic Preservation Register.  And, the majestic,  old ante-bellum homes - preserved from Gen. Sherman's destructive March through the Carolinas - because of their use, during the War, as military hospitals for wounded Federal soldiers - are both a nostalgic, and historic reminder of a former age - best characterized by the defining phrase - "gone with the wind"!

For someone, who might journey to Beaufort within the coming year, the emphasis, on her history, will be doubly apparent, as Beaufort is currently preparing to celebrate in January 2011 - the TriCentennial Anniversary of her incorporation - 300 years ago in January 1711.

Long, however, before Beaufort was incorporated as a town - and it is the 2nd oldest town in SC - there was, for a short period of time in 1562 - a French-Huguenot settlement, on what is now the golf course of the Parris Island Marine Corp Recruit Depot - a settlement, about which I'll elaborate more, in a moment.

However, prior to the French-Huguenot settlement, another European power - the Spanish had begun making repeated attempts to establish a foothold on the North American continent - along the SE coast of South Carolina.  Spanish records show, that as early as 1514, Lucas Vasquez de Allyon, a Spaniard who resided on Espanol (Hispaniola), had sent ships to the SE coast - in search of new labor resources for their island plantations.

Archaeologists are in general agreement, that de Allyon landed somewhere along the coast of either North Carolina or South Carolina - the precise site, however, still remaining undefined.  However, as a result of stories, which he gleaned from one of the captured indigenous persons - a man, named Chicora - de Allyon received a commission by Charles V - authorizing him to explore more deeply, and to make a settlement on the SE coastal area.

Thus, it was on August 18, 1525 - the Feast Day of St. Helena, the sainted mother of Constantine - that de Allyon's scouts spotted a point of land, which they named Punta de Santa Elena, in honor of the saint, Helena.  And while it is not absolutely certain that St. Helena Island, in Beaufort County is identical with the point of land discovered by de Allyon, the name St. Helena does bear the honor of being the longest-lived place name on the eastern coast of North America.

In 1526, after completing his scouting mission, de Allyon returned to Espanol, and began recruiting 600 volunteers, and out-fitting them for a planned settlement to be named San Miguel de Gualdape.   Again, archaeologists are uncertain as to the exact location of the settlement.   There is, however, general consensus that the settlement was on the South Carolina or Georgia coast.

San Miguel de Gualdape turned out to be a settlement - that while significant - would have a very short life, due to multiple problems.  These would including a supply ship that was lost at sea, deaths from disease - including the death of their leader, de Allyon, and mutiny by several colonists against his successor.  Thus in 1527 - a year after the settlement was planted - the colony folded.

The Spanish continued to make several additional efforts to explore and colonize the SE coast - including Hernando de Soto's explorations in 1540 - that extended into AL, GA, SC, NC and going all the way - to the banks of the Mississippi River.  However, despite the Spanish interest in the Port Royal area - with its deepest natural port on the East Coast, and coupled with the continuing allure of the wealth, which they had been led to believe were in the Santa Elena area - Spanish efforts at settlements and exploration of the area, always seemed to meet catastrophic ends.

Closely viewing all these Spanish efforts - much like an eagle intently scanning the landscape from its perch, high on a tree limb - the French were quick to also enter into the land settlement game.  Barely two years following the Spanish loss of a large expeditionary force, during a hurricane off the coast of Cuba, Admiral Gaspar Coligny of the French Navy sent Jean Ribaut and a colony of French Huguenots to establish a French settlement in La Florida.

It was on May 17, 1562, that Ribaut discovered - what he noted was a broad, deep harbor, which he named Port Royal, and which he described as, "one of the fayrest ... havens of the world".  And thus, it was in 1562 that Jean Ribaut landed on Parris Island - today, the home of the United States Marine Corp Recruit Training Depot.  And, it was on present-day Parris Island that Jean Ribaut constructed the settlement of Charlesfort - a settlement composed of a small group of French Huguenots, who, thus, composed the first Protestant colony on the North American continent.

However, the Charlesfort colony was soon in desperate need of supplies, and Ribaut left the small, garrison of 30 men, and sailed for France - in order to procure the needed supplies.   On the way, however, Ribaut was captured and imprisoned in England; his eventual return to France, thus being significantly delayed.  And as a result, as had happened with the Spanish; the French also experienced failure - in their attempt at establishing a long term settlement.   The French experience tended to mirror the Spanish experience - in that the settlement's failure was an interactive mixture of hunger, disease, mutiny, and fights with the Native American tribes in the area.

However, to put this date of 1562 and the French-Huguenot settlement on Parris Island, SC into a historical perspective, note that the initial English settlement at Jamestown, VA did not occur until 1607 - some 45 years later; and that the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock in MA, occurred some 58 years later - in 1620!

Thus, settlement activities by the European powers were occurring - up and down the SE coast, and in what is now Beaufort County, SC - from the earliest dates of European exploration activities on the North American continent.

What, you may be wondering, drove and fueled all these explorations along the SE coast - and in the Beaufort County environs - during the mid-15th century and early 16th century?  And my answer, "in a nutshell", which the former American humorist, Will Rogers, noted "is where all answers begin - in a nutshell" - is that in a manner that is similar and mirroring of the Alaska experience - where France and Russia initially came for the riches that could be gained from furs - the Spanish and the French, with the English and Scots not far behind, were all seeking to claim the SE areas of Florida and South Carolina for economic gains, along with establishing geographical territories for colonization and national territorial expansion.

The French entrance, on to the scene, however, was not viewed happily by the Spanish.  And, in order to respond and to counter the French efforts at colonization, the king of Spain sent troops under the command of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles to North America - his objective being to eliminate the French threat, and to permanently establish Spain's claims on the continent, and along the SE coast.

The result was that in 1565, Pedro Menendez established the settlement of St. Augustine, and then, a year later, in 1566, sailed for Port Royal - where the Spanish built a fortified settlement, San Felipe.  Menendez then declared Santa Elena to be the capital of La Florida, and appointed Esteban de las Alas, to serve as the provincial governor.

Unlike earlier settlement attempts, the San Felipe settlement did exist - for about ten years, until 1576.  However, as had happened to previous settlement attempts, it too, fell victim to disease, poor leadership, and eventual destruction by the Native American populations.

These many and various efforts at colonization settlements, by the Spanish and French, were not in vain, however.   Each attempt was, in essence, a stepping stone for the successive, additional efforts.  And during the past 30+ years, the settlement sites have been the focus of archaeological research efforts - as excavations on Parris Island have slowly resulted in uncovering much of the lost stories of Santa Elena, San Felipe, and Charlesfort; with the result - that on September 21, 2004, the Charlesfort-Santa Elena National Historic Landmark was dedicated at Parris Island, SC.

One way of viewing the Spanish and French settlement efforts is that they served as the prelude to the eventual, long-term settlements - that resulted from the subsequent English and Scots expeditions, that began soon after the death of Oliver Cromwell, and the subsequent return of Charles II - from France to the throne of England.

In 1663, Charles rewarded eight persons - who had, steadfastly, remained his loyal supporters - with a territorial grant of all the lands that were between the 31st degree and 36th degree north latitude.  The land that was given to these eight Lords Proprietors was given the name Carolana - in honor of Charles; Carolus being the Latin form of Charles.

Soon thereafter, on August 10, 1663, William Hilton sailed from Barbados - to explore the new area for the Lords Proprietors - arriving on August 26 on the SC coast, and exploring the waters in the vicinity of present day Hilton Head Island.  He also visited and traded with the Escamacu Indians at Santa Elena (Parris Island).  And, soon after Hilton's explorations, in 1666 another Englishman, Captain Robert Sandford, sailed south - from Cape Fear - also exploring the SC coastal area.

Sandford appears to have had greater, positive success in his dealings with the Native Americans - as he arranged with the cacique of the Escamacu to take the cacique's nephew with him - to be educated in the English language and customs.  In return, Sandford left a young English surgeon, Henry Woodward, with the Escamacu cacique - to learn the language of the Native Americans, and to develop trading opportunities.

Henry Woodward was soon rewarded by the Lords Proprietors with 150 acres of "bounty land" - free land that was granted to certain immigrants, as an encouragement to settle in a new colony.  Thus, quite literally, Henry Woodward - whose connections with the Native Americans was the basis for South Carolina's development of a lucrative trading relationship with the Indians - was, also, the first English settler in South Carolina.

From this point in time - about 1670 - what had been a trickle of colonization activity, began to become like a flood.   Beginning with the English settlement of Charles Town on the peninsula, formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, soon there would follow, in October 1684, a group of Scottish Presbyterians, who would settle in what is current-day Beaufort County.   Several of this group of Scottish emigrants were prisoners, who - for participating in abortive uprisings - had been sentenced to banishment, or they were Presbyterians, who had violated Anglican rules - and who were subjected to history's age-old solution for problems - movement to someplace, "out of sight and out of mind".

And like the cascading water-falls -  that flow into the streams and rivers around Haines, AK - from this point in time, historical events and the persons - impacting and being impacted - also accelerate in SC - exponentially!!  To immerse oneself in the ebb and flow of the early SC colonists and their relationships with the Native Americans; or to see the impact that the planting of long-staple cotton - which was initially planted and grown on Hilton Head Island, had on the development of antebellum Southern culture and politics, both regionally and nationally - and one can literally add topics and studies on the top of subject areas - ad infinitum!!

However, there is one historical and cultural similarity - that, while possessing one significant difference - is also common to both Beaufort, SC and Haines, AK.  And, I can only barely, touch "the hem of the garment" - in attempting to explore, what I see are the relevant, common threads - in the give-and-take relationships, that each community has had with the Native populations and other cultures, with whom they've shared geographical existence.

In Haines, AK, an awareness, by residents, of the Native American Tlingit tribes - whose centuries-long presence in Alaska, long pre-dated the fur trade explorations by Russia and the European and American influences, that have arisen to Alaskan dominance since the early 18th century - although, having waned, has always been a present reality.

In South Carolina and Beaufort County, however, the end result of the early Indian Wars between the Native Americans and the early settlers - other than surviving as place location names, or the originating source of names for area rivers - has been, that the Native American presence is, a largely, non-existent reality.

There is, however, a historical saga - whose history does possess some connecting similarities, for both Haines, AK and Beaufort, SC.   I'm referring to the African-American experience, or what history designates and records about various aspects of slavery in America.  Although it is true that the Tlingit tribes pre-dated European and American presence, and have always been present in  Alaska; in contrast with the Afro-Americans, who were not initially present; but were imported - in chains from Africa - the common, linked experience is, I think, the commonality and similarity of their experiences - as viewed culturally - in relationship with the dominant cultural restrictions, laws, and prohibitions - that affected each, within the contextual settings in which they lived.

In Beaufort County, SC, as was true all across the antebellum South, slaves were prohibited from speaking their native languages.  Rather, learning and speaking English was mandatory.  Their tribal religious customs were also not allowed to be practiced; rather, becoming Christian, and being instructed regarding the virtues of being "obedient" slaves to their masters was the focal emphasis.  As slaves were, periodically, sold and traded - usually without regard to family connections - the resultant fracturing of family relationships took an immense toll upon the emotional health and sense of well-being, of innumerable persons.

The end of the Civil War and the long, difficult story of Reconstruction is a mixture of voluminous stories within itself.  However, the reality is - that it has only been, in more recent decades, that the Gullah language of the Sea Island Blacks of the SC and GA coasts, has come to be recognized, respected, and is being reclaimed by the Afro-American community - as inherently significant, and possessing deep roots to their historical and cultural identity.

And, sweetgrass baskets - a craft brought from Africa - that were used as functional implements on the many rice plantations, up and down the SE coast; but, during the 20th century was an artistic craft - that could be purchased, cheaply, at stands along area highways - today, can no longer be purchased, cheaply.   Today, the weaving of sweetgrass baskets is recognized as a significant historical and cultural expression, and many of the better crafted baskets are going into museums and private collections.

The significantly, critical concern for many African-American craftspersons today, is finding enough young persons who are interested in learning the "old" skills, and developing their capacities to take up the artistry, so that it will be carried on, for generations yet unborn.

It has been a lengthy, involved process that is still continuing to develop.  However, the descendants of former slaves are, today, experiencing the honoring and the recognition of what had long been prohibited and repressed, within their culture - now, being rediscovered, honored, and reclaimed.

This experience with the cultural heritage experience of the SC Sea Island African-Americans - has, I've discovered, been closely mirrored in the experience of the Tlingits of Alaska.  Since arriving in Alaska, I have been reading and acquainting myself with Alaskan history -  using a small pocket guide book, which I purchased soon after my arrival - at the State Museum in Juneau.

Interestingly, in a chapter entitled, "Renewed Traditions: The Renaissance of Native Arts", the author details how the early explorers marveled at the Tlingit's rich history of ceremonial and craft traditions.  However, the ritual masks, cedar columns, and potlatch feasts were perceived by other newcomers as practices to be eradicated and strictly prohibited.

The inevitable result was that an entire people's culture - for a long, period of time -  essentially went underground; and, for many persons, became a source for the loss of cultural heritage and personal identity.  All of which, are negative experiences for spiritual and emotional health.

What I perceive, and believe is significant - in our lives - is the vibrancy and deep-seated quest for viable personal expression - that is inherent within the human heart.  And despite the blanket of shunned recognition - that for many years was cast over African-American culture and arts - the spirit of a people survived, and is now experiencing a rebirth.

An identical - and largely parallel - experience is also how I read, and sense what has happened - and is currently happening in Alaska - with the Native American cultural and artistic expressions within the expressions of spiritual and cultural life - that has sustained and borne them, to this present day.

Art and history are, by no means, adequate containers, for the whole, of what we mean by the term - culture!  They are, however, significant and critical aspects for understanding and appreciating the life-soul - what I choose to express, as the "spirit" that lives, energizes, enriches, and bears each of us along the path of our life's journey.

This, I believe, and I can say with pride, and with confidence.  In both Beaufort, SC and in Haines, AK, if one is open to the opportunities that each community offers, there is a rich, cultural, spiritual experience - that is a wonder, to taste and to enjoy!!