Cultural artefacts are things made by traditional communities.

Examples of cultural artefacts are: masks, pottery, bows, arrows, shields, baskets, metal works, wood carvings, musical instruments, canoes, ornaments, clothings and mats.

Importance of cultural artefacts

• They preserve cultures of African communities.
• Special skills and values are learnt by younger generations.
• They are used in studies and research.
• They show a sense of belonging.
• They attract tourists therefore a country earns income.

Here is an image from the Maulidi Festival in Lamu.

Festivals and ceremonies

In many communities in Kenya, ceremonies and festivals are held for different reasons.

In traditional African societies, festivals were mainly happy activities that brought people together to celebrate achievements. They were entertaining and relatives from other communities were invited. They were important socialising occasions.

Ceremonies were held to celebrate good happenings or to mourn the death of a relative. Sometimes they were held to make sacrifices to God or to pray for the rains to come.

Aspects of our culture that we should preserve

There are aspects of our culture that we need to preserve because they are still useful to us.

The main ones are:

• Traditional foods: Many of these were medicinal and healthy.
• Riddles and proverbs: These were used to pass on important moral messages.
• Story telling: This was an important pass time and many lessons were learnt through them. 
• Folk songs: They were used to pass on important cultural messages to the youth.
• Cultural artefacts like masks, pottery, bows, arrows, shields, baskets, metal work and wood curving.
• Cultural values and the extended family.
• Herbal medicine.
• Moral laws and taboos.

Food is an important part of traditional culture.