...For many people, the holiday Día de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead, could be described as another version of Halloween. Yes, there are masks, candy, food, and face painting, but this isn’t the sole point of the holiday. After visiting the Day of the Dead festival at Missouri State University, I quickly discovered that this sacred holiday is more about the coming together of family and friends to pray for and remember others who have passed on. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually it was associated with October 31, November 1 and November 2 to coincide with the Western Christian triduum of All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Some of the...
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...DAY OF THE DEAD (DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS) Title: What is Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)? [Lead-in] Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is a holiday originally celebrated in the southern and central parts of Mexico, and increasingly observed in the United States. It combines Aztec rituals that honor deceased relatives with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day. It is said that at midnight on October 31, heaven opens its gates open and the spirits of those who have passed can return for a day to visit their loved ones. The holiday is really two days: November 1, Dia de los Inocentes (or Angelitos, meaning little angels), honors children who have died. November 2, Día de los Muertos, celebrates the memories of deceased adults....
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...parte integral de la vida hispana Las tradiciones tienden a tener una impresión duradera en las personas involucradas en ellas. Las tradiciones vienen de una variedad de fuentes tales como la Familia y el desarrollo dentro de la sociedad. Hasta podríamos participar en las tradiciones de las que no sabemos nada. La palabra "tradición" probablemente ha sido definida por cientos de personas, no hay necesidad de redefinirlo, es simplemente: "una práctica específica de larga data." (1) La cultura hispana está plagada de tradiciones como el Día de la los Muertos, la celebración del 5 de mayo, e incluso más simplista, el uso de la piñata. Yo me enfocaré principalmente en el Día de los Muertos: su historia, cómo se celebra en México y otros países de América Latina. De esta manera espero que se transmita el significado cultural de esta tradición y su impacto en la cultura hispana. El Día de los Muertos se celebra en muchos países de América Latina. Esta celebración se remonta casi 500 años, la hace cuando los españoles conquistaron lo que hoy es México. Ellos vieron la gente indígena burlándose de la muerte. Los españoles vieron esto como un sacrilegio porque la muerte, para ellos, significaba el fin de la vida, pero para las personas indígenas la muerte "es una transición de una vida a otra en diferentes niveles donde la comunicación existe entre los vivos y los muertos." (2) Este ritual ha sido practicado por la gente indígena desde hace más de 3.000 años. Los españoles hicieron...
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...1. Dia De Los Muertos, Meaning Day Of The Dead, A Mexican Holiday. Mexicans Celebrate And Prepare Special Foods To Celebrate Departed Family Members. 2. Dia De Los Muertos Can Be Celebrated By Cleaning The Cemetery. Out Of Respect People Go Around And Take The Time To Clean And Decorate The Cemetery. This Is One Way People Choose To Celebrate Day Of The Dead. Another Way To Celebrate The Day Of The Dead Is The Altar. People Take Time To Decorate An Altar (Ofrenda) Of A Family Member To “Bring Them Back” For A Day. Family And Friends Decorate The Altar With The Passed Members Favorite Food And Pictures Of Them. a. 1st Tradition: Cleaning The Cemetery b. 2nd Trandition: Altars 3. Countries Where It Is Celebrated: a. Spain b. Italy c. Poland...
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...The holidays Halloween and the Day of the Dead are similar in some ways but overall different. Halloween is celebrated in America and The Day of the Dead is mainly recognized in Mexico. During Halloween kids walk around collecting candy in costumes. Preparations for Dia De Los Muertos include making an ofrenda which will hold offerings for the dead. The purpose of the holidays is different as well. Throughout the three days that the Day of the Dead is celebrated, the loved ones who have passed away come back to life and enjoy time with their families. On October 31st in America, the bad spirits were known to come alive and needed to be banished before All Saints Day which is why people wore costumes. Therefore, Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos are different. The two holidays are celebrated in different parts of the world. Halloween is celebrated all throughout America, Canada, Australia and in some parts of Europe. Halloween became popular in North America when the Irish immigrants brought their practices with them. Dia De Los Muertos is only celebrated in Mexico. It was first celebrated by the Incas in South America. Therefore, the two holidays are celebrated in different parts of the world and...
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...Dias de los mertos take place on two days November the first and second. The origins took place in a South America by the Aztecs 2,500-3,000 years ago. They use a flower called cempasúchitl that is yellow (like the sun people say) to honor the dead. Dia de los muretos was originated in Mexico about 3,000 years ago by the native people who were living there before the Spanish people came. It belief was pass down to other cutlers such as the Toltecs, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec and Aztecs. People prepare for dia de los mertos in a week advance when they make statues to celebrate their dead love ones, objects like masked and costumes, and sweets for example sugar skull. Dia de los mertos are celebrated on November 1st and 2nd . On the first day which is called all saints day is when they remember the children who passed away by putting toys and colorful object on their graves. On the second they remember the adults who passed...
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...Dia de los Muertos is celebrated each year from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 it’s a Mexican tradition in which families and friends come together to remember those who have passed away, because Dia De los muertos, has become such a growing tradition here in the states, mainly in areas with high number of Latinos I decide to focus my study on how Dia de de los Muertos is celebrated here, in Los Angeles. Olvera street, located in N. Alameda st, one of the oldest parts of downtown Los Angeles, is home to many Mexican holiday celebration, for that reason I decide to practice my ethnography there. Olvera Street is a Mexican cultural shopping destination for locals and tourist and for many years it’s also become a center destination for many Mexican holiday celebrations like the Dia de Los muertos. The Dia de Los muertos celebrations at Olvera Street began from October 25 though Nov 2. I visit the event on four different occasions; I specifically chose days in which different activities/events were taking place. Each day I attend I participated and spoke with several different people, among them were: event coordinators, ritual practices, merchants, and families. One woman, a local olvera street vendor, whom I had most of my conversations with, became my key research assistant. NOTE: for the sake of...
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...Dia de los Hermanos Muertos Of the night of October 30, 1990, one day before the first day of Dia de los muertos. In a little town in Mexico, Todos Santos, where there were 3 children running around to find great things for their birthday. Francisco is the first child out of the other two. He is 12 years old and born on the first day of Dia de los muertos, his other two siblings are Rosa and Antonio. Rosa is 9 years old and she was born the second day of Dia de los muertos. Then there is the youngest child, Antonio, he’s 6 years old and he was born on the third day of Dia de los muertos. If you have realized each of them are three years apart, and each of them are very special to their beloved mother Elizabeth. But none of them know that only the mother of three of the children, they have a curse on their family. As the three children are running around, Antonio runs out of the breath and tries to catch up, “Espera, chicos!” (Wait...
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...Dia de los muertos is when you take two days to remember and celebrate the dead. On day one you make alters for the children who die and you also set them their favorite food out like they are there. For the adults who died they do the same thing but on the day after. When they create altars they are creating a thing to remember them. One of those things that are on the altar is the pictures that they use to remember the family members and their friends. Another item they put on the altar is pan de muerto which is bread they only make on the day of the dead. One more of the traditions that that do on the day of the dead are they like to tell stories about their love ones. They like to tell funny stories and stories that can provide good remembrance of them on that day. Some of the stories are something they do or what they did. Two of the countries that celebrate it are Mexico and Spain....
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...Calaveras, or sugar skulls, are an important aspect of Dia de los muertos. They have a long history with the holiday, and are growing constantly in popularity. The original meaning of these calaveras is important to Mexican history. They represent what the holiday stands for. Calaveras were originally brought to Mexico by Italian missionaries in the 1800s. They were mixed into the holiday like many other aspects of it. The decorating of these skulls became a tradition to go with the days of dia de los muertos. Later when the Spanish took over however, they tried to erase sugar skulls from the culture as well as the entire holiday of dia de los muertos. But the calaveras made it through, and are still around today, even after all the religion-mixing....
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...presidential candidates claiming to build a wall on the Mexican border if they receive the power of running the country. Looks of disgust and assumptions towards cultural holidays. Celebrations such as the Day of the Dead, Day of Independence –in Mexico- and issues with immigration have various stereotypes placed upon them. Are they true? The misconceptions of this celebrations and reasons behind these actions do not signify or give the correct information of these events.The main three points would be the more popular assumptions made towards Mexican people and cultural...
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...Throughout the month of October, I focus on the aspect of Latin American cultural. I created a Unit of Día de los Muertos. The main purpose for this unit was to exposed students to different cultures and allowed students to explored traditions. I videotape myself throughout the unit of Dia de los Muertos. It was process of two weeks because I incorporated language art, geography, and arts. My main focus for videotaping myself was how I portray the content of Día de los Muertos, management behavior, timing, allowing students to speak, and transition. These aspects are very important because día de los muertos is a critical topic to teach. In my classroom there are many different religions and by this it cause conflict and disapprove that I teach this topic...
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...Day of the Dead & the Sugar Skull Tradition The Day of the Dead and the Sugar Skull Tradition starts on the November 1st and 2nd. This holiday is held in Central and Southern Mexico. They call this holiday in Mexico, Dia de los Muertos y la Tradición del Craneo del Azucar, which means Day of the Dead and the Sugar Skull Tradition. On October 31st, they believe that the gates of heaven will be opened at midnight and everyone that has passed with reunite with their families. Everyone with have beautiful altars made for their passed loved ones. They have in them baskets with flowers, candles, many things of fruit, peanuts, and the Day of the Dead bread called Pan de Muerto. In the alter there is also soda, water, and hot coco. For the...
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...“El Panteón de Los Angeles” Dia de la celebración muertos (Day of the Dead Celebration) is a Mexican holiday celebrated through Mexico and other cultures around the world. Over the span of a couple days families come together to celebrate the lives of their ancestors and loved ones who have passed on. I had no knowledge of this event until a close friend of mine, Jacqueline Perez told me about it in junior high school. During those years, I attended two Day of the Dead celebrations in Los Angeles. Jacqueline invited me to attend when her family decided to participate. I attended the second and third Annual Dia de los Muertos Festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. California. During the weekend of October 27, 2012, I was in Los Angeles at the time to attend my aunt’s funeral that passed away two weeks prior. Therefore, I was not able to attend the Day of the Dead event that took place here in downtown Sacramento. Luckily, I was able to make my way to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s 13th annual Day of the Dead Festival. It felt great to be there after losing someone so close to my heart. These families were out there celebrating the life of those who passed on, and I wanted to do that as well for my aunt. I was taking back because when I came almost ten years ago it was not this extravagant. There were so many people on both sides of this event, participants and spectators. Upon arriving to the cemetery that Saturday for the festival, the first thing...
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...Questions g-i G. The calaca is a skeleton, they are frequently seen with marigold flowers and foliage. The calacas are used in the “Day of the Dead” festival, They are on carved masks that are worn by the revealers. In Guatemala the calaca is known as death. The calaca is seen in various movies, a few examples are “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “The Corpse Bride”, and “Coraline”. With the Mexican’s aztec background, the calaca has an aztec design on it.They are often shown wearing festive clothing, dancing, and playing musical instruments to indicate a happy afterlife. This draws on the Mexican belief that no dead soul likes to be thought of sadly, and that death should be a joyous occasion. This goes back to Aztec beliefs, one of the few traditions to remain after the Spanish conquest....
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