February is Black History Month: In the past, the art of storytelling was a major form of family entertainment. It offered a temporary escape from reality into a world of fantasy much like movies today, by distracting the mind and stimulating the imagination. Because themes echoed the accumulated experiences and beliefs of African American women’s past, they became capsules of folk wisdom. They taught moral and social values through the way women dealt with one another and with dilemmas that confronted them by taking an active role in the decisions that shaped their lives.

Gullah, Creole and “Pour-Quoi” Folktales: Virginia Hamilton in her book Her Stories said that the Gullah and Creole tradition were forms of English that included grammar, words and phrases from African languages. Gullah was first spoken by slaves in the Sea Islands of Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida. Others came from Louisiana and people there who had a Creolized English – that is English enriched by words and phrases taken from black culture, French and/or Spanish languages and by the creation of new words. Some stories came from early African Americans folktale, such as the “Pour-Quoi” or “why stories” describing the reason why something was so. All stories have a beginning, middle and end. Making an outline of the story helps to remember its sequence.

Infants: Little Girl and Buh Rabby* – Gullah: African American Slave Folktale
I. A little girl was home helping her mama who told her to mind the house and garden while she went off to market to sell vegetables.

a. Buh Rabby told her, “Your mama said to let me in for some peas.”
b. She did and he ate a whole row in a minute and then asked to be let out.

II. When mama came back little girl told her about Buh Rabby.

a. Mama said if he comes back don’t let him out so your father can take care of him.
b. He came the next day, little girl let him in but locked the fence so he couldn’t go.
c. When Daddy got home he put Buh Rabby in a gunny sack and hung him in a tree, then went to cut some switches.

III. Along came wolf and heard Buh Rabby in the sack. He asked “what are you doing?”

a. “I’m on my way to heaven for little girl. Want to come?” “Yes indeed” and when Wolf open the sack Buh Rabby jumped out and Wolf jumped in.
b. When Daddy came back, he asked what happened? Wolf said, “Buh Rabby said I’m going to heaven.” Daddy said, “It won’t be heaven you’ll get, but switches.”

Moral: You can always ask your family for help.

*Buh Rabby is the Gullah pronunciation of the name “Brier Rabbit” from the Uncle Remus stories of the old south.

Toddlers: The Talking Eggs - Creole: Louisiana Folktale
I. Mama had two daughters. She favored Rose over Blanche.

a. Blanch met an old Auntie at the well, and gave her a drink of water.
b. Not long after mama acted so mean to Blanche she ran away and met Auntie again

II. Auntie took her to her magic cabin in the woods. The next morning she told her to take eggs as a present, but only take the ones that say “take me” to break behind her.

a. Blanche did and out came diamonds, gold and a carriage full of fine dresses.
b. When Mama saw this she sent Rose to get some eggs from Auntie also.
c. Rose laughed at Auntie and made fun of everything. Auntie said “You’re not nice.

III. But Auntie was kind-hearted, so she told her to only take the eggs that said “take me.”

a. Rose said, “You can’t fool me.” She took the eggs that said “Don’t take me.”
b. When they broke open, snakes and toads came out chasing her. Mama said “Get out of here and take those awful things with you. So Rose left with all her troubles.

Moral: Don’t be greedy, take only what you are told.

Preschoolers: Miz Hattie Gets Some Company - Plantation Folktale: “Pour-Quoi” Story
I. Miz Hattie lived all alone in the piney woods.

a. She said, “I’m as lonesome as a biscuit without some gravy.”
b. The rats & mice gnawed her corn and taters. “These varmints are starving me out.”
II. One snowy night she yelled as loud as the wind, “Oh mercy sakes, Lord help me.”

a. There was a knock on her door that sounded like the roar of a blizzard.
b. She was afraid but said, “Come in whoever it be, and heaven help me!”
c. The door flew open and there stood the Lord himself.

III. He didn’t say a word just pulled off his glove and threw it on the floor.

a. She said, “Lord, is your glove moving?” “I believe it to be Miz Hattie.”
b. It turned into a cat which caught mice. She was so happy she called it “Purralee.”

Moral: That’s how cats came to be. They’re made from the Lord’s glove and it’s plain unlucky to harm them.

What I get from these older black women, is that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower is to bloom. (Alice Walker)