“Unless we Value the Intangible Heritage, the Tangible will never be Safe!” Linking the Tangible and Intangible Aspects of Heritage Sites in Africa

A few heritage researchers and protection practitioners in some African countries define heritage sites and cultural objects based on European and North American criteria. Such criteria emphasize visual material remains like monumental structures and their aesthetically pleasing features. This Western view overlooks some critical aspects. For example, to local people, the meanings and associated values make the monuments and sites relevant. Despite the inseparability of the tangible heritage and associated intangible aspects such as spiritual practices, some researchers and heritage practitioners, including antiquities department officials, need to pay more attention to the invisible meanings embedded in the sites and cultural objects. Notably, it is these immaterial aspects which the local people value the most. In this article, we survey three fishing villages: Batini, Mkadini and Winde, on the Swahili coast in East Africa, and document what heritage means from the local people's perspective. We argue that fishing communities value features like reef crests, sacred mangrove forests, the ruins of stone-built tombs and sacred baobab trees not because of their physical appearance but the spiritual practices (e.g., healing, rituals, and offerings) the local people undertake within and around these sites. We further contend that to achieve heritage preservation sustainability, government officials and heritage scholars should pay greater attention to the spiritual aspects associated with these places.