In her novel Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo, Ntozake Shange makes repeated use of the phrase “The South in her” in reference to Indigo. First appearing on page four when spoken by Indigo’s mother Hilda, it is thereafter a standalone motif at the end of a paragraph, appearing five more times throughout the novel. Shange’s repetitive use of “The South in Her” creates a theme of mystical womanhood, a concept that is most visible in Black women.
Shange introduces the phrase through Indigo’s mother, who would “shake her head the way folks do when they hear bad news, murmuring, “Something’s got hold to my child, I swear. She’s got too much South in her” (Shange, 4). By this, Hilda means Indigo has too much African influence and southern mysticism and not enough Christian rationality.
Indigo’s southern mysticism is supported by the first words Indigo speaks in the novel, telling her mother she has “earth blood, filled up with the Geechees long gone, and the sea” (1). The Geechees are the descendants of the Africans who were enslaved on rice, indigo, and Sea Island cotton plantations in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Gullah-Geechee culture is deeply rooted in the musical and spiritual tradition of Africa. Indigo’s love for her dolls, natural talent on a fiddle, and fighting spirit are all indicative of her Geechee blood.
Shange is careful to note that Indigo didn’t tell her mother what she talked about with her dolls, as it had “nothing to do with Jesus. Nothing at all.” Instead, Indigo and her dolls spoke about “what she thought the black people needed” (4). Indigo uses her Geechee mysticism to make her world a magical place for herself and her people. When the grocery store was full of white people, she made them Black. When the white folks bought all the fresh collards and okra, Indigo “made them disappear and put the produce in the vegetable wagons that went round to the Colored” (4). Indigo’s magical capabilities, whether genuine or metaphorical, allow her to transcend the systemic racism to which she and her people are subjected. There “wasn’t enough for Indigo” in the world, so she “made up what she needed. What she thought the black people needed.
Access to the moon.
The Power to heal
Daily visits with the spirits” (5).
Inspired by Aunt Haley, the model of a mystical woman of power, “The South” in Indigo empowers her to act as a healer for her community.
Discussion Questions:
- Does “Geechee magic” extend to men in the novel as well? How does Uncle John manifest southern mysticism?
- Why is Hilda concerned about her daughter’s preoccupation with her Geechee heritage?
Source on Geechee culture: