The words muddy, golden, dusky, and dawns evoke images of sight.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an African American poet and writer that wrote the famous poem "The Ne**o Speaks of Rivers." He was a prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance Movement, in Harlem, New York, and worked with renown authors of the time such as Zora Neale Hurston.
I would think they they would practice religion frequently and make there faithfulness to God (or whatever is the main person in that religion) their main priority
after the civil war the south was thrown into chaos almost the whole of its industry relied on slavery so once it was taken away the south was very poor