'El Día de los Muertos'
by Erica Grimaldo, Outpost staff
Unveiling reception article in Spanish
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The ofrenda rests on a public altar exhibit surrounded, as is customary, by the photographs of the deceased being honored. Click on altar items to see a bigger picture and a brief explanation of their significance. Photo by Erica Grimaldo. |
Olvera
Street has extensive
information on the history and symbology of El Dia
de Los Muertos. Their pages are easy to navigate
through and include related photos and art.
Aztec
Central has only
general information on the holiday but they do a
good job explaining individual elements in an
altar.
LatinoLa
has a nice and short article about the way Latinos
in California celebrate El Dia de los
Muertos.
MEXA, Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlán, a student group at the University of Nevada, Reno, set up an altar / exhibit with an ofrenda in honor of fallen freedom advocates to commemorate Latin America's Día de los Muertos on Nov. 1.
The tradition of setting up altars with food offerings to the souls of dead relatives on the Day of Dead dates back to the Colonial period of the Americas. It is believed to have evolved from the fusion of the Christian and pre-Colombian religions.
Natives had a hard time envisioning a heaven where people sat in the clouds chanting hymns. "Allowing" the souls of dead relatives to come back once a year to enjoy the essence of a feast set up especially for them was the Christian response.
Sandra Rodriguez, MEXA advisor, said the group decided to honor historical figures instead of relatives to make the altar more inclusive. MEXA also invited other ethnic organizations on campus to help in the selection.
Sister II Sister and Campus Greens provided photographs that were used in the altar. At the unveiling reception, on Monday, Oct. 25, representatives from those groups provided brief biographies of some of the people they selected.
The people honored in the altar included Cesar Chávez, Malcolm X, Ema Goldman, Mother Theresa, Emiliano Zapata, Mahatma Ghandi and about a dozen others.
The altar also included traditional decorations such as flowers, calacas, sugar calaveras, fruit baskets, veladora candles and pan de muerto.
The Day of the Dead is not for mourning, it is a happy holiday. In small towns people still go to spend the entire day at the cemetery with their dead. In some Mexican villages graveyards come alive with mariachi bands and children playing hide and seek among the elaborate tomb stones.
In larger urban areas families may gather to tell humorous anecdotes of the dead while they cook and prepare the altar. People see it as a positive way to keep grandparents and other relatives alive in the memories of the children.
The
ofrenda at home is left over night between Oct. 31st and
Nov. 1st. They say the dead come a long distance and arrive
hungry and thirsty at some point during that night.
Anticipating that, people usually include a glass of water,
fruit and a favorite dish of the person being honored. They
might also leave treats such as candy, alcohol, tobacco and
a favorite item such as a toy or a blanket.
Photographs of the dead relatives are believed to serve as invitation cards. It makes them feel welcomed.
are treats for the living
Pan
de Muerto, bread of the dead, is another tradition for this
holiday. It's usually round and lightly decorated on the top
but its appearance varies depending on the region. Families
will traditionally put a couple of pieces in the altar and
eat the rest.
The sugar skulls, Calaveritas, are made mostly for children or as mementos. They come as small as bite size or as big as "real size." People make them at home or buy them at candy stands. In some regions it's considered a nice Day of the Dead gift to get a sugar skull with your name on it.
Spirits
watch over their relatives from Heaven and would certainly
know where their relatives live. But on this night there are
so many of them that they can get confused and it's a good
idea to help them out with the light of a few candles and
the scent of Xenpazuchitl flowers. 
People use mainly veladora candles because they are big enough to last through several nights and they come in a glass. An added bonus is the picture of the Catholic saint painted on the glass. It's believed that you can enlist the help of that saint using the special prayer that is also printed on the side.
The Xenpazuchitl flower, commonly called Flower of the Dead in Mexico and yellow Marygold in the United States, is also used to guide spirits because of its pungent smell (photo on the right).
Grinning mischievously, the calacas, or calaveras, are to El Día de los Muertos what carved pumpkins are to Halloween. People make them out of wood, papier maché and countless other materials to become toys and decorations. They are a traditional sight at homes and altars.
These goofy skeletons have come to represent the pre-Columbian belief that death is just another cycle of life. Because people don't want to think of heaven as an abstract boring place, calacas can be found enjoying trivial activities such as cleaning and eating or at more momentous occasions such as weddings and graduations (below right).
The calacas in this altar were made out of clay, wire, yarn and tissue paper by MEXA members (below left).
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Posted Nov. 5, 1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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