The North Carolina Rice Festival "Ancestry Reveal" Event

338 Main Street,Navassa NC 28451

02 March, 2023

Description

During the 1800s, untold numbers of West Africans from the fabled Rice Coast regions of that continent were brought to southeastern North Carolina expressly for their skills in cultivating rice, which was dubbed "Carolina Gold" for the riches it yielded local plantation owners. The North Carolina Rice Festival's Ancestry Reveal event was created to explore the connections between local African American residents in the once-thriving rice-growing areas of Brunswick County and the people of the Rice Coast, whose descendants are today called the Gullah Geechee. Join us for a family-friendly evening of sharing and discovery as we reveal those connections and kick off a three-day "menu" of rice-related activities. Dr. Gina Paige, one of the co-founders of African Ancestry™, the company providing the DNA testing kits for this effort, will be on hand to lead the Reveal discussion.