Safeguarding Kit Mikaye’s heritage crucial for posterity

Kit Mikaye is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site as has been reported in sections of the press recently.

However, it was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage Site in need of urgent safeguarding.

The two processes are undertaken by UNESCO, but are of different orientation, protect different values and should not be confused, nor can one replace the other.

The two can, however, apply to the same cultural or natural heritage.

A world heritage site is an area or structure, either man made or natural that has been recognised to be of being of outstanding international importance and therefore worthy of special protection.

UNESCO SITES

Sites are usually nominated by national and cultural heritage organisations and designated once approved by the World Heritage convention of UNESCO.

Kenya has a total of seven UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Four are inscribed under cultural category, which essentially means they are manmade. They include Fort Jesus National Monument, the Miji Kenda sacred Kaya forests, Lamu Old Town and the Thimlich Ohinga archaeological site.

Three sites are listed under natural heritage category – Mt Kenya National Park and Forest Reserve, Sibiloi National Park, under Lake Turkana parks and the Kenya Lake system in the great Rift Valley.

OUTSTANDING VALUE

These sites have been found to have what is referred to as universal outstanding value (OUV). It means that they are so exceptional that their importance transcends national territories and their protection is for all of humanity in current and future generations.

Kit Mikaye on the other hand was put on the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

Intangible heritage is a result of human cultural activity. It is the expressions, knowledge systems, indigenous skills and their associated instruments, objects and artefacts. It includes the spaces of execution of these heritage.

The practices and rituals performed at Kit Mikaye, which is a site that has naturally occurring rock structures, are part of the cultural heritage of the Seme and other Luo speaking peoples who live around the site.

FORTUNES

Legend has it that the fortunes of the people are closely tied to this sacred shrine.

The communities visit the site to pray, undertake cultural oaths, perform rituals or to enjoy the peace and quiet of the site in mediation.

Traditionally, during times of drought and ill fortunes, elders of the Luo community would visit the site and rains and bounty harvest would follow.

Elders in this instances were elderly men and women of unquestionable social standing, so to speak, those above reproach. Such elders should not be confused with the current political shenanigans where any politician is publicly declared to be an elder and adorned with traditional garb.

ELDERS

In many African societies the selection of elders was conducted in private ceremonies involving only other elders themselves. The values sought were not subject to public discussion or approval nor were they those that money can buy which seems to be the case today.

Though elders were usually still people with means, values and integrity were a major consideration for one to be an elder.

At Kit Mikaye, men would slaughter animals and women would cook them in the midst of song and dance.

Generations of the Luo community have carried out these activities to contact and commune with their deity.

PRESERVE CULTURE

It is these activities that UNESCO now seeks to preserve as the last community rituals were conducted in 1987.

These cultural practices are threatened by various factors, including ageing bearers and practitioners and encroachment of the sites by other human activities.

These aspects lead to devaluation and contamination of the site as a sacred space for the community making these elements to be declared in need of protection.

UNIQUE ELEMENTS

It is similar unique cultural elements that are protected in the Miji Kenda Kayas, the only difference being that the Kaya sites (forests) and the traditions constitute the living heritage of these coastal communities.

Intangible cultural heritage can also be created by individuals, as works of art, songs, dance, stories, which are then recorded in tangible forms, such as art pieces, décor on buildings and monuments and books. Stories, such as those written by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, are part of Kenya’s intangible cultural heritage.

Songs written and sang by Kenyan artistes, such as the recently released Wanjinga Nyinyi, are part of Kenyans intangible cultural heritage as well.

Many works of art usually reflect the conditions, activities and undertakings of a society or community at a given time and space.

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