magica-tenore-regina:

Interesting W. African/Black Folklore Fact: old S. Carolina/Georgia/Florida black families of the Sea Islands have tales about a race of beneficent fairies called the “little-ones-a-glowing”. Fairies in Black American folklore are rare. Most of our stories revolve around ghost-horses, haints, devils, witches and other creatures of shadow. This is the only time when fairies are explicitly talked about in our lore. From the descriptions I’ve read about them, they bear a STRONG resemblance to the Yumboes in Wolof mythology, who are called “Bakhna Rakhna” (Good People) and possess silver hair. The Gullah name “Yombo” is descended directly from the Wolof word “yomba”, which means pumpkin. The Vai word “yombo” is also a Gullah name and it means “dainty, delicious food”. Yumboes were also known to delight in eating sweet, delicious foods such as yams, corn and pumpkins. Now, as fate would have it, the Yumboes are said to dwell on Goree Island off the coast of Senegal. Goree Island is where the infamous Maison des Esclaves/House of Slaves and the Door of No Return is located where millions of different Africans were held captive before being shipped off to “the New World” in the 16th to 18th Centuries. The power these Fairy creatures have in serving as a connecting point between the Door of No Return and chattel slavery in the Diaspora is just wowing me.