Honoring Our Ancestors

El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a day of celebration, particularly for the people in Mexico and Central America, and for Mexican Americans in the United States. It is a day to honor and commemorate the lives of the dearly departed and to welcome the return of their spirits.

 

The tradition of the Day of the Dead is rooted in pre-Columbian and Spanish Catholic ritual customs. Today, this celebration has been increasingly popular among Latinos in the United States. Though many of the traditional elements have remained, the way and where the Day of the Dead is celebrated has changed. However, the unity of life and death continues to be the dominant theme of the art, tradition, and rituals of the annual celebration of the Day of the Dead on November 2, both in Mexico and the United States. 

 For pre-Columbian cultures, life and death were not two independent states of being―death was an important part of the life cycle through which new life was created. The Day of the Dead may have also been related to the cyclical nature of agriculture because trees, plants, and crops grow from the ground in which the dead were buried. 

The welcoming back of the spirits is observed in households with the creation of ofrendas.  The quality and degree of ornamentation of the ofrendas depend on regional traditions, family and individual wealth, recent deaths, or the year’s harvest. On the ofrenda, the main objects are symbolic of life’s elements: water, wind, fire, and earth. Water is served in a clay pitcher or glass to quench the spirit’s thirst from their long journey. Fire is signified by the candles that are lit. Wind is signified by papel picado (tissue paper cut-outs). The earth element is represented by food, usually pan de muerto (bread of the dead).  Other offerings include mole, fruit, chocolate, atole, toys, calaveritas de azúcar, and Copal incense. 

The contemporary Day of the Dead emerged during the Chicano Movement and has become part of the United States cultural mosaic in recent decades.  A wide range of activities are celebrated in different cultural and community venues. Children learned about the Day of the Dead tradition in classrooms or Americans can experience the celebrations in Mexico through the new cultural tourism.

 

Today, ofrendas combine traditional items such as calacas, sugar skulls, or pan de muerto with silk marigold flowers, electric candles and digital photo frames.  Ofrendas can honor family members or pop culture icons such as Frida Kahlo and Celia Cruz. They can be personal statements of loss or can make social and political statements. Although the Day of the Dead continues to be transformed in many ways, the underlying sense of commitment to honoring the deceased loved ones and to celebrate life and death has remained.

Accessories and decorations are a main element of every ofrenda. They are also an important part of the Mexican (and central American) household. 

Music and dancing are important elements of the Day of the Dead tradition.  Mariachi, corridos, jarocho, traditional sones are among the music that is performed to honor the spirits. In Mexico, traditional dances such as La Danza de los Viejitos (the dance of the little old men) and La Danza de los Tecuanes (the dance of the tigers/jaguars) are also performed.  They add color and sound to the Day of the Dead celebrations.