GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

El Día de Los Muertos or Day of the
Dead is celebrated in many Latin
American countries where the
dead are honored and remembered in a
positive way. Celebrated in connection
with the Catholic holidays of All Saints
Day on November 1st and All Soul’s Day
on November 2, celebrations vary from
one country and region to another and
can be traced back to the indigenous
cultures.
Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors
have been practiced by pre-Columbian
civilizations for as long as 2,500–
3,000 years where it was common to
keep skulls as trophies and display them
during the rituals to symbolize death
and rebirth. Mexico is best known for its
Día de los Muertos celebrations which
include pageantry,
processions and
public display of
altars to the dead.
In the Andean regions
of Ecuador,
Peru and Bolivia
families gather
together in cemeteries
to remember
ancestors and
loved ones with
offerings of food
which include: colada
morada, a
spiced fruit porridge
made with Andean blackberry
and purple maize and guagua de pan,
a bread shaped like a swaddled infant
that is sometimes filled with cheese or
guava.
Mexico is best
known for its Día
de los Muertos
celebrations which
include pageantry,
processions and
public display of
altars to the dead.
In Brazil the holiday of Finados (Day
of the Dead) is celebrated on November
2, when people go to cemeteries
and churches with flowers, candles,
and prayer to celebrate those who have
passed away in a positive way. In Bolivia
the Día de las ñatitas or Day of the
Skulls is an ancient Bolivian ritual celebrated
on November 9 where skulls of
ancestors are decorated with flowers
and pampered with cigarettes, coca
leaves and other treats to bring good
luck to the family.
El Día de Los Muertos in my
home county: Guatemala
In my country, Guatemala, the celebration
of El Día de Los Muertos or Día
de Los Difuntos
is more of a family
holiday. For
me it marks the
beginning of a
season filled with
traditional family
holidays starting
with El Día de
los Muertos and
then continuing
with La Quema
del Diablo, Las
Posadas, Noche
Buena, Navidad
and Año Nuevo.
As October comes to an end flower
stands bloom on every corner of Guatemala
City, kite vendors displays sway
in the brisk November winds and marketplaces
and cemeteries are filled with
multicolored flowers. On November 1st