Dia de los Muertos - vanderbilt.eduvanderbilt.edu/clas/curriculum-resources/media/Dia de los...
Transcript of Dia de los Muertos - vanderbilt.eduvanderbilt.edu/clas/curriculum-resources/media/Dia de los...
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El Día de los Muertos Teacher Workshop October 13, 2010
Avery Dickins de Girón, Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies
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Key Concepts to Understanding El Día de los Muertos
• Fusion of Roman Catholic tradition and indigenous Latin American celebrations honoring the dead
• Death as part of the life cycle• Joyous event celebrating life and death
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General Characteristics of El Día de los Muertos• “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead)
• “Día de los Todos Santos“ (All Saints’ Day)
• “Día de los Difuntos” (Day of the Deceased)
• “Día de los Angelitos” (Day of the Little Angels, in honor of children who have died)
• Altars
• Cemetery
• Offerings
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Roman Catholic Roots
• Pope Gregory IV: All Saints’ Day, 9th century
• Abbott Odilo of Cluny: All Souls’ Day, 14th century
• Brought to Latin American in the 16th century
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Indigenous Latin American Rituals
• Indigenous groups in Latin America had their own rituals to honor the dead
• Reciprocal exchange between living and dead
– Offerings to please dead and ensure their blessings in earthly endeavors
• Linkage to agricultural cycle
• Yaxchilán: Lintel 24
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Pre-Columbian Rituals to Honor the Dead in Central Mexico
• Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead)
• Mictlantecuhtli (Lord of the Dead)
• Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli
• Skulls: a symbol of regeneration
• Aztec view of death: a phase of life– soul does not die, goes to Mictlan
(underworld)
– returns one day each year
Mictlantecuhtli
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Ancestor Worship in Mesoamerica
• Mesoamerica: Central Mexico to Honduras
• Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya: caves as portals to the underworld
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Mixtec Ancestor Worship
Codex Nuttall• documents royal Mixtec genealogies and historical events• 800-1300 A.D.
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Codex Nuttall: Consulting Ancestors
Religious specialists: consulted to communicate with ancestors
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Andean Ancestor Worship
Ancestor worship - the core of Inkan religion
Tawantinsuyu
Inka and other pre-Inkan groups mummified their dead through a process of drying
– caves (machay)
– vaults (chullpas)
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala: Nueva Coronica y Buen Gobierno (1980) [1615]
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Inka Veneration of Mummies• Ancestors = protective spirits, sacred objects (huacas)
– Maintained in their palaces as if they were alive– Direct link to gods– Consulted as oracles
• Aya Marca Ramni: month dedicated to ancestor worship• Offerings of llama meat, coca leaves, chicha (maize beer), and cloth• Spanish burned royal mummies
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El Día de los Muertos in Mexico
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Printmaker José Guadalupe Posada
•Satirical representations of skulls and skeletons in the late 1800s
•Frida Kahlo’s artwork
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Mexico: AltarsAltars are unique to each person
– Photographs, favorite foods, flowers, candles
– Incense: to attract spirits
– Salt and water: for purification
– Candles: to light the way
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Importance of Marigolds
• Tagetes lucida• Cempachuchil (20-petals)• Used to honor dead by Aztecs
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Papel Picado
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Other Special Traditions in Mexico
• Pan de Muerto
• Calacas
• Calaveras
– sugar skulls
– poems
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Guatemala: Barriletes
• Santiago, Sacatepequez, November 1
• Kites guide spirits, conduit of communication
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Barriletes
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Cemetery Celebrations in Guatemala
• Pine needles
• Flor de muerto (Tagetes patula)
• Copal pom (incense)
• Marimba music
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Guatemala: Las Santas Calaveras
• San Jose Petén
• Said to be skulls of Mayan kings or priests: petitioned for favors
• Procession on November 1
• Offerings: hen, tamales, ixpaasa, liquor
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Guatemala: Fiambre
• Late 16th century
• Moorish occupation of Spain (8th to 15th centuries) to the Spanish settlement of the Americas
• Ingredients vary but commonly include native American foods, cured meats and pickled vegetables, olives, chickpeas
• “fiambre” alludes both to the cold meats in the dish as well as to a cadaver
• Primarily a ladino custom
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Andes• Importance of vertical zones for Aymara and Quechua• Uma Pacha = underworld: llama meat, fish• Lowlands: coca leaves, bananas, chicha (maize beer)• Highlands: chuño (dried potatoes), ocas
• Pinkullus• Importance of receiving dead first three years
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Andes: T’anta wawas
• wawas = babies
• Sweet yeast breads flavored with cinnamon
• Placed on altars and graves
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Bolivia: ñatitas• “Little souls”, “flat noses”
• Human skulls
• Provide protection for owners, as well as blessings for health and prosperity
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Bolivia: ñatitas
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Recent Influences
• Protestantism– Growing throughout Latin America
• Tourism – Mexico: Janitzio (Michoacán), Xococotlán
(Oaxaca)
– national and international tourism
– regulated by the state
– Night of the Dead Tours
– Santiago Sacatepequez, ñatitas
– Feria-like atmosphere, loss of focus on honoring dead
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Recent Influences
• Halloween– Most influential in Mexico; resistance– Día de los Muertos and Halloween: cognates
• Celtic festival of Samhain, Celtic New Year
• Wandering spirits: All Hallows’ Eve• Samhain traditions were incorporated
into Christian celebration as in Latin America
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Key Concepts: Summary
• Fusion of Roman Catholic tradition and indigenous Latin American celebrations honoring the dead– Aztec, Mixtec, Maya, Inkan and other groups had rituals to honor the dead
– Campaign to Christianize Latin American natives led to fusion
• Death as part of the life cycle; dead still part of the world of the living– Offerings based on reciprocity
– Dead still exert influence on the living and earthly affairs
• Joyous event celebrating life and death– Cemeteries filled with dancing, feasting, and music
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Further Reading
1. Stanley Brandes, 1998. “The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity.” Journal of American Folklore 111 (442): 359-380.
2. Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore de Bolivia, 2004. Todos Santos: Xiwatanakanurupa. Edited by Varinia Oros, Gustavo Suñavi, and Milton Eyzaguirre.
3. Frank Salomon, 1991. “’The Beautiful Grandparents’: Andean Ancestor Shrines and Mortuary Ritual as Seen Through Colonial Records.” In Tombs for the Living: Andean Mortuary Practices. Edited by Tom D. Dillehay.
4. Celso A. Lara Figueroa, 2003. Fieles Difuntos, Santos y Ánimas Benditas en Guatemala: Una Evocatión Ancestral. Guatemala: Artemis Edinter.
5. Bruce E. Byland and John M. D. Pohl. 2004. In the Realm of 8 Deer. University of Oklahoma Press.
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Thanks
• Jenni Ohnstad – Vanderbilt Creative Services
• Paula Covington – Vanderbilt Latin American Bibliographer
• Marie Martin
• Felipe Girón
• Jennifer Vogt
• Ted Fischer
• Claire González
• John Janusek