Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead is a fiesta in memory of deceased relatives. At this ceremony family members wear calacas which are wooden mask. They dance around and have a good time. These masks are also placed on altars to dedicated to the dead. Sugar masks are also made and the name of the dead person is placed on the forehead of the mask, the mask is then eaten. The Aztecs and the Meso-American civilizations would keep the real skull. This ritual lasted for a month. In the Spaniards attempts to convert them to Catholicism first they tried to kill the ritual but failed. They then changed it to November 1st and 2nd. Today this ritual is celebrated in Mexico, parts of Central America, and parts of the United States of America. People in these different areas celebrate it differently but keep the same concept.
Playa América
Aqueduct City of Mexico
English: Ely S. Parker, Native American civil engi...Take Mexico, for example, their people go to the gravesite and decorate it with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for the dead children and bottles of tequila for the adults. Then they will sit on a picnic blanket and eat the dead person's favorite food. In America and the larger cities of Mexico they make altars for the dead. The altars are surrounded with flowers, candles, and incenses. "More and more people have been honoring their dead", said Zarco Guerrero. Last year there were Native Americans and African Americans wanting to honor there own dead. This is a great ceremony and I think in the future more and more people will start to honor their dead friends and family with alters and going to their grave site to be with their lost family members.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mex...
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mex...