Charles Maley, a music teacher at Burroughs-Molette Elementary School, is a believer in the importance of understanding the history and development of modern musical pieces and the instruments used to play them.
He collects instruments and uses them in his classes. Recently, he found three special pieces — a mbira, an akonting and a darbuka — he found at a yard sale on St. Simons Island.
“I thought it would be a great way to show people where our instruments come from,” Maley said. “It’s something that I can pass along to the kids.”
It’s easy to see how one nation’s cultural artifacts can influence others. An akonting is the predecessor of the banjo, mbiras eventually became the modern kalimba and the darbuka — a standing hand drum — is still in use today.
Each of the three are also unique in their presentation. Maley noted the cowrie shells used to adorn the stringed instrument and an effigy carved into the top of the mbira. Such small details point to the importance and the care their original creators and players put into them.
On Monday, Maley donated them to the Gullah Geechee Georgia Museum at the historic Needwood Baptist Church in Brunswick so they can be preserved for future generations.
Delores Polite is an employee at Burroughs-Molette and the head of Windsward of Georgia, a business that operates the museum. When Maley learned she was looking for pieces for the museum, he suggested donating the instruments.
“He was one of the first teachers here to donate,” Polite said.
The Gullah Geechee culture became prevalent along the Southern East Coast of the U.S. during the African slave trade period. Many African American residents of the Golden Isles can trace their roots to this culture, so Polite is dedicated to recording and preserving as much history as possible before it’s lost to time.
Music history is something that’s especially important, she said, it’s an aspect of human life that crosses nearly all boundaries.
“The most important thing is the preservation of history and establishing the skills they brought from Africa and its relevance to us today,” Polite said. “When you understand sound, you understand language and you understand culture.”