Students celebrate ‘Dia de los Muertos’

Colorful paper banners were woven throughout the tree branches and streamers trickled down the gravestones as more than 60 students huddled around the cemetery outside of Foster Quad on Thursday evening. \nIU graduate student Rachel Gonzalez addressed the crowd about the significance of the traditions and customs of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.\n“In Mexico, droves and droves of people would be in cemeteries like this, cleaning the graves and decorating them,” she said. “The purpose is not just to honor them, but to entice them to come back to interact and communicate with the living.” \nFoster’s formal lounge was also transformed Thursday night into a solemn gathering place to honor the dead. Decorated with colorful Mexican paper banners and two traditional alters, the Dia de los Muertos celebration began. \nAttendees initially assembled in the lounge, facing traditional Bolivian and Mexican alters. Both had similar elements on them, such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), apples, flowers and other unique cultural elements. \nGonzalez explained the Mexican customs of skull imagery and color choice. \nSkulls can be made from papier-mâché, wood, sugar or ceramic, she said. They are then decorated with colorful paint and icing, and often exchanged among family members. \n“They can be shared with other people, but it’s a very intimate thing,” Gonzalez said. “You only give them to your closest friends.” \nAlters, she said, can be adorned with colorful draperies and objects. Bright orange and red marigolds are also added to the setting. The aroma is meant to entice the spirits of the dead, Gonzalez said. \nThe candles represent warmth and light to entice the dead, as opposed to the darkness and cold of death, she said. \n“This day is very playful, but it is not like Halloween,” she said. \nGraduate student Vannessa Pelaez-Barrios then described the traditions of the Bolivian Day of the Dead, which were similar to those of Mexico, but also very different.\n“In Mexico, the colors of the alters are very bright and make light of death,” she said. “But in Bolivia, we respect death and are afraid of it.” \nAfter the illustrations of various Day of the Dead customs, the students were invited to taste the pan de muerto and Mexican hot chocolate. Crafts, such as sugar skulls and tissue paper flowers, were demonstrated by IU’s Latino community members. \n“During the Day of the Dead, families spend entire days and nights in cemeteries, lovingly calling back the dead to the living,” Gonzalez said. “There’s no right or wrong way to honor the dead, as long as your heart in the right place.”