Aztec Descendants: ‘Take the Dollar Out of the Day of the Dead’

 

People around the world will celebrate Halloween this Thursday, October 31. Halloween dates to an ancient Celtic tradition in which people believed the dead would return to visit the living.

In the United States, many children are busy preparing for Thursday night. They will shout “trick or treat” as they go from home to home in search of candy or other treats.

Some children will paint their faces to look like skulls², borrowing from an ancient Aztec tradition falling around the same time. It is called Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

The Day of the Dead spread from Mexico and Central America across the U.S. border. It has become big business in the United States: stores sell Day of the Dead clothing, skulls made of sugar and other products for the celebration.

The Mattel Toy Company recently launched a Day of the Dead Barbie doll, and Nike has created a Day of the Dead athletic³ shoe. It is named “Cortez” for Hernan Cortes, the soldier who brought down the Aztec Empire.

Most people “think the Day of the Dead is just about sugar skulls and marigolds,” said Ixtlixochitl Salinas-White Hawk⁴. She is a member of Mexico’s largest indigenousgroup, the Nahua-Mexika (Aztec). She now lives in Seattle, Washington.

White Hawk does not like the fact that big business and non-indigenous⁵ people have taken over the Day of the Dead.

They do not understand “the medicine and spirituality behind it,” she said. “They need to take the dollar sign out of it.”

Melding of religions

Celebrations honoring the dead date back at least to the Aztecs. They set aside a month at the end of the growing season for events honoring Mictecacihuatl. She is the “Lady of the Dead,” who guards the underworld with her husband Miclantecuhtli.

Aztecs made offerings of food, drink and flowers to the dead. Often, these celebrations involved killing⁶ innocent people, which angered the Roman Catholic⁷ Church.

In 1521, Spain destroyed the Aztec Empire, but had trouble removing the Aztec’s spiritual traditions from the native people. Slowly, indigenous spirituality and Catholicism joined together: Catholic churches were built in the place of former Aztec religious buildings, and Aztec celebrations were reborn as Christian⁸ holy days.

“They knew that they were not going to be able to make the people not celebrate our ancestors,” said White Hawk, “so they passed it on to All Saint⁹’s and All Soul’s Day.”

She notes the Christian holidays that fall on the first two days of November, one honoring dead Catholic Saints¹⁰ and the other remembering the dead.

Today, Day of the Dead is three-day celebration, beginning October 31 and lasting¹¹ through November 2. These days are set aside to honor generations of ancestors.

“We are not here just on our own,” said White Hawk. “We are here because our ancestors lived through hardships and struggles and gave their love for us to be here. So, we celebrate them as a way of thanking them.”

Individual traditions are very different from one family to another, but most people set up altars at their home or where family members are buried. They set up pictures of the dead, candles, flowers and some traditional foods on the altar. They believe the spirit of the dead will return for a short time to sit with their descendants¹³.

“There is understanding that our ancestors walk with us, so we sit with them, fix their favorite meal, their favorite drink, share stories. It’s about celebrating the life of the person, not mourning their loss,” she said.

Widespread celebrations

Today, indigenous communities across the United States organize Day of the Dead parades and street celebrations.

White Hawk is a member of Tloke Nahuake, “together and united,” a dance group founded by her father, Juan Salinas. For years, he has traveled across the country to share Aztec culture through dance. The family has taken part in Day of the Dead celebrations in Seattle for years. Sometimes they invite representatives of different communities in Mexico to share the tradition with the public.

“There are stories that go with the dances, which are really prayers,” she said. “They are an expression of who we are — not who we are in that moment, but everything our ancestors did to get us to that moment.”

Dancers create their own clothing, which include large, colorful hats or head coverings made up of the feathers of parrots and other birds.

“Every feather has its own meaning,” said White Hawk. She says they sometimes dance for seven or eight hours.

She understands why non-indigenous people want to celebrate with the imagery of the Day of the Dead.

“I appreciate that everybody is…trying to find their own place,” she said. “But I feel very protective of the knowledge and culture that has been entrusted¹⁴ to me.”

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

skull¹ – n. the structure of bones that form the head and face of a person or animal

doll – n. a child’s plaything

marigold – n. a plant that produces a colorful flower

indigenous – adj. living, or existing naturally in an area or environment

saint – n. a person who is officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as being holy because of the way he or she lived

altar – n. a table used as the center of a religious service or ceremony

descendant¹² – n. someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past

feather – n. any one of the light object growing from a bird’s skin; growths that make up the outer covering of a bird’s body

appreciate – v. to highly value someone or something

1 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

2 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

3 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

4 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

10 saints   

圣人般的人（指特别善良、仁爱或有耐性的人）( saint的名词复数 )； 圣…（冠于人名、地名之前）； （因其生死言行而被基督教会追封的）圣人； 圣徒

参考例句：

• The children were all named after saints. 这些孩子都取了圣徒的名字。
• In 1461, the bishop of Saints, Louis de Rochechouart, saw only a plain wall. 1461年Saints主教，LouisdeRochechouart主教看到只剩一堵朴质的墙。

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 descendant   

n.子孙，后裔，弟子

参考例句：

• He is a descendant of Confucius.他是孔子后裔。
• He is a lineal descendant of the company's founder.他是公司创始人的直系后裔。

13 descendants   

n. 后代，后裔 名词descendant的复数形式

参考例句：

• They were the direct descendants of the Dutch settlers. 他们是荷兰移民的直系后裔。
• They are the descendants of Queen Victoria. 他们是维多利亚女王的后裔。

14 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》