the setting where contact takes place, and the power relations among the groups. On the other hand, it also examines the 'internal ecology' in which languages evolve, such as the contact among linguistic systems before and during the language's evolution (Mufwene, 2001, pp. xii, 21, 25, 95, 113). At the core of Mufwene's approach is the understanding of languages as complex, adaptive systems. Much of the historical literature on creolization has been focused on African or European influences and not New World African cultures as complex adaptive systems, which are influenced by many factors.  
As a first step to defining 'Lowcountry Creoles', this article focuses on creolization as a social and cultural process, investigating social processes in Western Africa (Table 1). It argues that the seeds of creolization actually lie therein. To begin to understand the Creole cultures crafted by Lowcountry Creoles, it is important to get a better understanding of their Western African heritage and how it changed over time. Both are important elements in redefining who were 'Lowcountry Creoles' and how their descendants became the Gullah Geechee.