Guest Column: Day of the Dead

 

Stepping off of the subway car at station Cementario in Santiago, Chile, I prepared myself for my first Dio de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in this new foreign land I now called home. The stairs from the platform led to a packed street filled with flower vendors, candle sellers and push carts that offered rosaries and prayer cards for sale. The sweet smell of thousands of flowers barely distracted me from the noise and activity.

A line of cars slowly rolled through the main gate, one that stretched beyond view in either direction. As I passed through the wrought iron-and-stone entrance into the oldest and largest cemetery in Santiago, all of the chaos slowly faded, however. Quietness took over as I walked deeper onto the property, choosing small sidewalks and pathways at whim.

The cemetery was very crowded, but voices were kept low by visiting families who gathered around burial plots. Some carried buckets of soapy water and rags, wiping down headstones. Others would circle a plot, chatting casually with each other while tidying mementos and photos of their loved ones’ resting place. Some simply prayed. This was not the Dio de los Muertos I expected, but instead the honoring of Dio de Todos Santos, or All Saints Day.

Dio de los Muertos is primarily celebrated in Mexico, with Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador holding similar rituals of food, altar making and socializing, on or around Nov. 1. On this same day, Dio de Todos Santos is honored in Chile, as I saw, and in many more Latin American countries where the Catholic Church has a strong presence. With the colonization of Central and South America and the Christian conversion of indigenous peoples, a melding of native and foreign traditions developed into these holidays.

Although the names and some practices differ throughout the 26 countries of Latin America, the consistent element is that this day is one of reverence. Family members and friends are remembered and honored, and even in the farthest, hard-to-reach edges of a massive cemetery in a metropolis like Santiago, the graves are cared for meticulously.

I was moved by the thousands of people who took the day to be with those they loved, in both life and death. While I missed out on seeing sugar skulls and ornate alters, I witnessed a more subtle celebration, with the same beautiful depth of tradition and heritage.

To learn more about Hispanic/Latino heritage, join your fellow MHCC students from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Union for dance, crafts, food, music and more.

And on Nov. 1, please plan to be a part of Conversations: Grave Matters- Reflections of Life and Death Across Cultures, with visiting scholar Courtney Campbell, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union lounge.