El Día de los Muertos

HISTORIA DE LA DÍA

• Prior to the 16th century, this holiday was actually celebrated in the summer, as it was moved to concede with the Roman Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day
• originated and developed from Mexico's pre-Columbian cultures
• falls into the 9th month of the Aztec calendar (August) and these festivities were dedicate the goddess of the underworld named Mictecacihuatl (the Lady of the Dead)
• by the late 20th century, most of Mexico began to celebrate the remember those passed children on November 1st and the adults on the 2nd
• All Saint's Day was brought with the Spanish conquistadors and their Catholic traditions

TRADITIONAL FOODS

• pan de muertos (bread of the dead)- sweet colored bread prepared, eaten, and given to represent the passed relatives during this holiday
• tamales- meat enveloped in a corn dough wrapped in banana leaf or corn husk
• molé negro- black molé; a rich sauce (usually served with a meat) that includes many ingredients toasted together (including chocolate, onion, cinnamon, garlic, cloves, as well as pumpkin and sesame seeds)
• hot chocolate- back in ancient times, this warm delight was served more spicy rather than sweet as we prefer; very popular as the weather begins o get colder
• calbaza en dulce (candied pumpkin)- pumpkin is cooked until it is soft and is sweetened with brown sugar and cinnamon

SUGAR SKULL TRADITION

• skulls are made of chocolate and sugar
• preparations for the demand have workers creating these treats for 4-6 months prior
• on November 1st, smaller skulls are sold in remembrance of the children
• the smaller ones are replaced with full-sized ones in honor of the passed adults
• not often are the skulls eaten, their purpose is more to decorate the gravesite and provide a sweet treat for the visiting spirits
• thousands are decorated and hand-molded at the Sugar Skull Fair

CUSTOMS OF THIS HOLIDAY

• Cemeteries are cleaned and decorated because families will gather there for celebration
• streets nearby the cemeteries are decorated with papel picado, a colorful layout of paper cut into patterns and pictures
• many parades are held throughout central and southern Mexico

CUSTOMS (CONT)

• altars are created by the relatives of those passed
• on these altars, relatives and those honoring set items as tokens of remembrance, usually consisting of things the deceased had enjoyed while still living
• also set down ofrendas (offerings) like foods (refer to previous slides)

My great-grandmother, Angelina Cruz, is pictured in the center (my abuelita is on the left and is alive and well).

Mi bisabuela was very dear to my entire family and when she passed away 3 years ago, mi tios y tia y madre were devastated. Though she never lived here in the States, I find the thought of her soul being close to us quite amazing. Mi abuelita often speaks very kindly and thoughtfully of her and I think the least I can do is honor her and her memory.

For my great-grandmother's altar, I would place a pomegranate on it because she was always found picking from her pomegranate tree and loved it very dearly

She also had a plentiful mango tree, so I would place a mango or mango treat onto her grave

I would also place a bit of chocolate or cacao onto her altar because she always enjoyed sweets

SITES PAGE

• www.gomexico.about.com
• www.google.com
• www.wikipedi.com
• www.niu.edu/newsplace/nndia.html