generations of her family. The funeral home was founded in 1908 by Joe Chisolm, Galloway’s great-grandfather. In those times her people were carpenters and made the caskets by hand. In her contemporary role as funeral home director, Ms. Galloway bears witness to how belief and culture become acted out at Gullah home goings.
Of dreams and passing on . . . Sometimes you’ll say “She had a dream, she must have felt her death,” because she’s putting her life in order and saying her final goodbyes. People take dreams very seriously. Sometimes they will speak of there dreams in church. A deacon will predict that a lot of people were going to die soon or that there would be trouble coming.
Dreams are still very much a part of the culture.
Of speaking with the departed . . . When one is very ill a lot of times they will be speaking to the dead. “There’s Mama,”
they’ll say. They start seeing their loved-ones who have gone on. When you start seeing
the dead or talking to the dead that means they are going to be joining them soon.
The practice of visiting and eating with the bereaved families . . . From the time you hear that a person has passed [the family’s] house is packed that
whole week. After the initial shock, they’ll start the celebration long before the funeral. If you’re on the island [days before the funeral] there will be a cookout with fish and crab. There’s food and company every evening and that goes on until after the repast;
[post-funeral meal]. Every funeral has a repast, it is at every one! It’s a jubilation,
people rejoice! Families have to give away food after the funeral.
The wake . . . The night before the funeral, the wake is usually at the funeral home or at the church, for one to two hours. The family will sit for that hour and the community will come share time with singing, prayer, story sharing, encouragement, scripture.
Children and funerals . . . Children come to funerals because they are the community too. The community just comes together, everyone comes. The children will come to the wake if not the services.
Some take the children out of school for funeral services.
A celebration of faith—A Call to Salvation . . . It is a celebration and a lot of it depends on how the person lived. If it is a fruitful life, it
is especially a celebration. “Blessed is one when they die in the Lord!” We are leaving this side but we are going with Him. Non-Christian services can be very somber, if you have a question about their soul. Ministers being led by the spirit may make an altar call, especially if it’s a young person who has died or it is a tragic death. Yesterday it was a 96 year-old, so he said a prayer, but often times they will ask you to come to the
altar if you are ready to give your life to the Lord.
Personal Items for the Journey . . . At a recent Hilton head funeral a 96 year-old had his baseball caps and glasses. When I
went to Georgia, I put some candy in my cousin’s casket because he was always raiding the candy dish. It was a way of saying, “I remember you.” Some people may try and
sneak things in the casket. People try to be discreet with some things. Some people put money or a knife, cigarettes and photographs. People often put little testaments [New
Testament Bibles] in the casket or a minister’s original Bible.
To the Burial Ground . . . Years ago they used to take the bodies back to the home, but we don’t take the body back to the home. Every now and then, sporadically, people will request that people [the deceased] will pass by the house before burial. Saying goodbye to house for the last time. Most of our cemeteries are in communities which were previously plantations. Some are getting filled up because there are people who have purchased land within the cemeteries and are building houses. Once they purchase land, then a fence will go up and access is denied. Some communities are in court over that. When u can’t visit your
loved one and there’s no room for you, it’s an issue.
At the Burial . . . We bury them facing east, so that when you rise you will be facing Christ. Christ will
come back in the east. The sun rises in the east. I’ve heard a few older people say that they will be going home to the motherland. Sometimes we pass babies over the grave. It takes two people, one in front and one behind. You need to pass the child so the child
will not be afraid.
Grave decorations . . . People do put objects on the grave. Crosses, shell, glass, and floral arrangements of
Bible forms, floral arrangement with clocks to show time of death. If [the deceased] is a
After the funeral . . . When the funeral is over you need time to rest because it is very draining on people. We encourage people to continue to visit the family. We also hold a yearly memorial