The Gullah are a distinctive people who have preserved more of their African cultural heritage than any other group of African Americans. This has been primarily the result of their geographic isolation. The Gullah were first brought to Georgia and South Carolina in the seventeenth century to work on the rice plantations. They maintained many ties to their culture and language of origin, principally the Mende of Sierra Leone, West Africa. The Gullah became Christians, but their African heritage is reflected in their style of worship. First documented in the 1930s, their traditions and customs were still in evidence in the 1980s, when it was noted that the Gullah spoke a creole similar to the one spoken in Sierra Leone: they use African names, tell African folktales, and make African-style baskets and walking sticks.