In Meso-American culture, the period from October 31 (Halloween) through November 1 (All saints' Day) to November 2 (All Souls Day, or Dias de los Muertos, the Days of the Dead) is marked by a uniquely colorful religious festival that celebrates the cycle of life by simultaneously honoring ancestors by creating offrendas and redecorating gravesites in cemeteries) and mocking death (with toy skeletons and candy skulls). The Day of the Dead has its origins in the ancient civilizations that preceded the Spanish Conquest and the arrival of Christianity. The families of the deceased often construct offrendas, or offerings, in their homes or the cemetery. Typically decorated with artificial flowers, they also contain photographs of the departed loved one, personal items, and holiday foods (such as pan de muerto, or Day of the Dead bread). Like the memory tables offered by North American funeral parlors, they are opportunities to reminisce about the departed person.
DIAS DE LOS MUERTOS /DAYS OF THE DEAD |
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| ...are rooted in an indigenous people's belief that
beginning on October 31 and continuing through November 2nd, the dead
visit the living. To welcome the dead as honored guests, families
in Mexico create ofrendas or memory tables with personal effects, food
and drink which the departed enjoyed during their time on earth.
The ofrendas or memory tables unite family and loved ones to reflect
about their own lives. Since the 1970s, the tradition of Dias
de los Muertos ofrendas and memory tables has re-established links
between Mexican American families and their historical and
cultural roots, as well as making statements concerning important issues
The origins of Dias de los Muertos lie predominantly in Mexico where life and death were perceived to be in close relations, one a consequence of the other. Based on observations of nature, indigenous people believed that the survival of all living things depends on how life and death interact. Today, you will see other cultures join those of the indigenous in celebration of Dias de los Muertos to honor their loved ones or voice a cause because of death. Some of the items you will find on ofrendas or memory tables to honor ancestors may be:
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Adapted from a brochure accompanying the Dias de los Muertos exhibit at the Impulse Gallery, Pittsburgh, California, 2002 |
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Ritual carpet typical of Day of the Dead celebrations in Oaxaca, Mexico, made of various grains, including beans and coffee. |
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OfrendasPhotographs from the 2002 Day of the Dead exhibit at Impulse Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pa. |
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An ofrenda for 9/11. |
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Memory TablesPhotographs from the 2002 Day of the Dead exhibit at Impulse Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pa. |
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Butterfly TreeIn Aztec culture, butterflies served as messengers from the living to the dead. In the exhibit, visitors were encouraged to write the name of a deceased loved one on a paper butterfly, and hang it on the tree. (In Guatemala, kites serve this purpose) Photograph from the 2002 Day of the Dead exhibit at Impulse Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pa.
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Pan de MuertoHere is a photograph of some pan de muerto, taken from Diana Kennedy's book, Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy (photo by Ignacio Urquiza). Kennedy writes that pan de muerto is "the semisweet yeast rolls of various sizes made for the Day of the Dead, All saints and All Souuls. Each one is supposed to represent the soul of a departed family member or friend. the faces illustrated here were just a few of the hundreds being made by Senora Clementina Banos when I visited her one year at the end of October" (from "The High Art of the Tamale" by Alma Guillermoprieto, reviewing Kennedy's book in the New York Review of Books, 04/28/2011). |
The Day of the Dead is discussed by James S. Griffith in his Beliefs and Holy Places: A Spiritual Geography of the Pimeria Alta (University of Arizona Press, 1992; Chapter 5, "The Presence of the Dead"). See also Griffith's Southern Arizona Folk Arts (University of Arizona Press, 1988), where he also discusses the related tradition of nichos (niches), memorials made from cement, bricks, or stones.
Link to a website selling books and videos concerning the Day of the Dead.
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"The remembrance of the living creates the life of the dead" |
Carlos Loarca, artist Oakland Museum of California, 2002 |
This page last modified 05/13/11 12:55:19 PM.
