Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday to honor loved ones who have died. The tradition began thousands of years ago with ancient tribes - particularly with the Aztec and Toltec people, who believed in honoring their ancestors, and that the souls of the dead came to visit families once a year. Today, it is predominantly celebrated in Mexico, but also in other countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, and Haiti.
Nowadays in Mexico, the holiday takes place over two days. On November 1, people welcome the spirits of children, and the next day, they welcome the spirits of adults. People create offering tables for the spirits, called ofrendas, which are set up in homes, churches, cemeteries, and other public places. An ofrenda is usually draped with papel picado (tissue paper cut into detailed designs) and covered with food and beverages to welcome and feast with the hungry and thirsty spirits or our friends and family. Families also decorate the ofrenda with marigolds, candles, incense and photographs. Pan de muerto (bread of the dead) is a special holiday treat, a sweet bread shaped into a bol with bones on it. Brightly colored calaveras (skulls) made of sugar or candy, and Catrinas (fancy lady skeletons) are popular symbols on this day. People like to keep the holiday cheerful by painting their faces like skulls or dressing as skeletons as they parade through the streets.
This year at PKS, the PA, DEI committee, and teachers teamed up to create a community ofrenda to be contributed to and enjoyed by all. This was created in conjunction with our usual celebration of “Grandfriends Day,” during which there is opportunity for students, whose grandfriends have passed, to share a story of their special grandfriend. It is a very interactive experience with grandfriends also telling stories and singing songs, and so given the challenge of the past couple of years, we felt it was important create a dedicated space of remembrance.
While we are a Chinese immersion school, we celebrate all cultures, especially since we are in San Francisco, which is such a beautifully and culturally rich city - we want to be curious, connected, and engaged in the world (like our mission statement says), so celebrating Day of the Dead makes sense! Many cultures around the world share similar traditions - the Chinese celebrate the Qingming Festival in April, a holiday where families visit their relatives’ graveyards to sweep and clean them, in a day to remember and pay respect to the dead. People bring flowers, incense, and food to the cemetery, and paper money to burn for the dead.
Master Leo tells students about the tradition and how we use it to celebrate and remember our loved ones
Although parents could not enjoy the ofrenda in person this year, students were able to decorate monarch butterfly cutouts at home with their families, in honor of loved ones, and place them at the Mariposa Memorial. Faculty and staff were also welcome to join in and contribute a butterfly or photo of a loved one. As a community, we have been able to collectively enjoy this special space on campus and celebrate those dearest to us, but no longer with us.
There's something about building the display in community, that helps you grieve, celebrate, and honor your loved ones with others, not alone. The smell of the flowers, the placement of the candles, the hanging of the banners, and wrapping the tiers in blankets is all meant to be done with family, or in our case, community. We are thankful to the people who came by to offer their help - taking over duties, running to buy supplies, making copies, covering the ofrenda in plastic every night, etc.
Papel Picado (pa-PEL pee-CA-doh): paper cut-out decorations hang colorfully and blow in the breeze representing wind and the fragility of life.
Calaveras (ca-la-BARE-ras): decorative skulls, made of sugar or candy to represent the souls
Ofrenda (oh-FREN-da): offering table or altar that holds a collection of objects to honor loved ones who have passed
“Since I joined PKS two years ago, my father passed away in Chile, and my father-in-law left us just Iast July. I feel like the PKS community shared this grief with me and supported me through it. Kai Laoshi and I hope that with this ofrenda, although in a very small way, we are making a place for families to share their grief and hopes in community during COVID. We were really touched by how many butterflies we received, many of them with such beautiful written notes that touch our hearts as we read them. We have at least 385 butterflies here, if not more, and we’ll keep them all until next year.”
-Lizette Greco, Maker Specialist
Special thanks to Ginny, head of the DEI committee, as well as teachers Lizette and Kai for organizing and setting up this wonderful place of remembrance.
For more history, see the Mexican Museum in San Francisco. What traditions do you have?