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Dustin L. Dangli, editorfeatures-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

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The ShorThorn

Page 4 Tuesday, October 27, 2009

By AlAnnA QuillenThe Shorthorn senior staff

next week, the living will meet the dead — not with fear, but with honor and respect.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place nov. 2 and 3 each year. During the formal Mexican holiday, families come together and honor relatives who died.

International business sophomore Alma Vasquez has celebrated the holiday since she was little. As part of the holiday tradi-tion, her family builds an altar. The altar is adorned with pictures, candles, flowers and even the favorite foods and drinks of the de-ceased. neighbors can place pictures of their loved ones on the altar.

She said the holi-day is important because she gets to honor her grandfa-ther, whose death was difficult to overcome.

“It’s the one time that we all come to-gether and just cel-ebrate his life,” she said. “So to me, it gives me a sense of peace knowing he’s in a better place.”

Undeclared soph-omore Lira Polanco said she also feels at peace while celebrat-ing memories. She makes candy skulls called calaveras and cooks favorite foods of her dead relatives.

“I probably won’t remember them every single day but that holiday is especially for them,” she said.

Douglas Richmond, Latin American his-tory professor, said Dia de los Muertos, a historic national holiday in Mexico, began around 900 B.c. before the Spanish coloni-zation. He said when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, they helped incorporate catholi-cism into the holiday. That is why Dia de los Muertos occurs at the same time as the catholic holidays of All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day.

“According to legend and tradition in Mexico, ancestral spirits return to a family home for a visit on that day,” he said. “In order for the spirit to know which house to go to, each house prepares an altar and puts food that’s traditionally made in the home on it.”

Richmond said some people, who don’t

understand the holiday, find it strange be-cause it’s a celebration of the dead. He said people in Mexico are traditionally unafraid of death and see it as deliverance.

“People in ancient times didn’t look upon death as a dreary or drab kind of thing,” he said. “It’s simply an opening to another world where the spirit is maintained.”

For the holiday, families go to cemeteries and picnic at loved ones’ graves and remem-ber family traditions.

“Some people will even stay overnight at the cemetery with the family,” Vasquez said. “It’s more like a feast and not meant to be something scary.”

Susan Gonzales Baker, center for Mexi-can American Studies director, celebrates

her grandfather and aunt. She said her family deco-rates the altar with photos, artifacts and favorite items associated with loved ones. The family then prays in front of the altar during the evening meal.

“every year, I re-ally look forward to celebrating because it’s an opportunity to maintain a con-nection to family and heritage,” she said. “I want chil-

dren to understand death is not an end but beginning.”

Baker said the holiday is misunderstood outside the culture because people might find it unnerving or disrespectful because it’s a celebration of the dead.

“It takes a bit of the morbidity out of death that we see in other cultures,” she said. “Death is not just to be mourned but to serve as an opportunity to celebrate the life of a person someone loved.”

Baker said she anticipates the holiday will continue to be celebrated throughout the country and hopes it will become popular on campus through student organizations.

“This holiday has a very personal touch to it,” she said. “Something that I like to get across to my children because it’s a different interpretation of the way one copes with death.”

AlAnnA Quillenfeatures-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Tradition lives OnDia de los Muertos approaches

and families prepare to celebrate

The Shorthorn: Meghan Williams

CeleBrATiOns AT uTACenter of Mexican American Studies will have a display of traditional items used in Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico on the Uni-versity Center first floor.

At noon Wednesday on the University Center mall, the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, As-sociation of Mexican American Students and the Latin American Student Organization will celebrate Dia de los Muertos with free music, food, brief historical information and a memorial ceremony including a parade to the Central Library mall.

Materials from: Center for Mexican American Studies