Culture of Kanker District includes the indigenous religion and beliefs of the local people. The culture of Kanker District is predominantly tribal as this region is mainly inhabited by several tribal communities. There were around 62 castes in Bastar and Kanker provinces. The major tribes of this district are Maria, Muria, Bhatra, Parja, Gadva, Halba Tribe, Mahra, Chandal, Ghuruva, Dom, Lohar, Matrigond, Rajgond, Dorla, Nahar, Naikpod, Kuduk, Andkuri, Kumhar, Kosta, Chamar, Kenvat and Dhakad tribes.

Joint family structure is the prominent family structure in Kanker District of Chhattisgarh. Families are basically male dominant. The main languages spoken in this district are Hindi language, Chhattisgarhi language, Gondi language and Halbi language. Other languages like Bengali language, Telugu language and Oriya language are also popular in the district. There is an important festival of the tribes of Kanker District which is known as `Madai`. The festival is celebrated in January. Madai festival is celebrated for seeking the blessings of goddess Kesharpal Kesharpalin Devi. This festival is basically a moving festival and moves throughout Kanker District, Bastar District and Dantewada regions from December to March. This festival is celebrated in a big ground where thousand of peoples gather. Firstly, tribes arrange a procession of local god and goddess that is followed by prayers and then the celebration of the festival starts. A lot of shops, crafts, dances and other cultural programmes can be seen in this festival. Several people from other regions come to that place and enjoy the festival. Other festivals like Mati-tihar, Gobar-boharani, Ramnavmi, Navakhani, Dussehra, Diwali and Holi are celebrated as usual like in the other parts of India. In all the tribal communities of Kanker District, customs of death are a bit complicated. In Maria tribe dead bodies are buried.

The tribal society of Kanker District is famous for its excellence in making exotic handicrafts with a variety of designs and shapes. These handicrafts include wood-carvings, bell-metal items, terracotta items, bamboo items etc. Kanker District has huge area under forests containing good qualities of woods. Attractive wooden-carving crafts and various types of furniture are being made by the skilled hands of the region. These items attract locals as well as outsiders. Wood craft is one of the most famous, beautiful and unique art forms of the tribes. These wooden crafts are made out of the finest teal wood and white wood. The wooden crafts include models, idols, wall panels and furniture items. These handicrafts are generally exported to different places of the country and it has demand even from foreign countries also. Moreover, another wonderful aspect of the culture of Kanker District is bamboo craft. The tribes are excellent in making handicrafts of bamboo. Bamboo crafts include products like wall hanging, table lamps, table mats, etc.