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Gullah |
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Storyteller Cabin |
- The Plat-Eye - Cultural Background
Like many other Southern folktales, the "plat-eye" stories were brought
over by African-Americans who had been sold into slavery in the 18th and
19th centuries. They are especially prevalent in the
coastal Gullah
communities of Georgia and South Carolina. In these tales, the plat-eye
is typically an evil spirit who has not been properly buried, and now
stands guard over buried treasure deep in a forest or swamp.Plat-eye stories became especially prevalent after the Civil War, when rumors thrived that plantation owners had buried their Confederate money to keep it away from the Union army. In some of these stories, a slave was beheaded and buried with the treasure. His restless spirit would then become the guardian of the loot.
The plat-eye originally had one eye that dangled from the center of its forehead. But in later stories, the plat-eye took on many different forms, such as the strange creatures in our version.
