IU observes Day of the Dead traditions

Don’t be fooled by the date — Day of the Dead isn’t Mexico’s version of Halloween, said La Casa Latino Cultural Center Director Lillian Casillas.

John Nieto-Phillips, director of Latino Studies, said it is a blending of indigenous and Catholic traditions of honoring the dead.

“It offers a moment for people to be able to come together and honor those people who have died,” Nieto-Phillips said. “We still feel very connected to people who have passed on.”

Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos in Spanish, is being observed from Monday to Wednesday. Latin American countries celebrate it in different ways.

Casillas said the practices Americans most commonly associate with the holiday come from the Mexican tradition.

In Mexico, if someone has died in the past year their family constructs an altar to put on the gravesite. Marigolds, candles, incense, food, water, pictures of the departed and, in some places, a new set of clothing are laid out at the gravesite. Old graves are cleaned and decorated with candles.

Mintzi Martinez, an assistant instructor in the Department of Latino Studies who also teaches a course on Latino folklore, spent time in the indigenous community of Angahuan in the state of Michoacán, Mexico.

She said during Day of the Dead the whole community came together to help families cook food, build altars or pay for supplies.

The altars were personalized with the departed’s favorite things to honor them and attract them to their family.

“You prepare the dishes that person most loved in life so that they can follow the smell of their favorite food and the smell of the flowers,” Martinez said. “The idea is the soul of the departed person is going to follow the smells and come back to you.”

La Casa’s Day of the Dead celebration will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Foster Quad Harper Formal Lounge.

Casillas said there will be food, altars on display, a short talk about the holiday and traditional crafts.

Ivy Tech Community College will display art connected to Day of the Dead by local artists from Wednesday to Nov. 28 in the John Waldron Arts Center’s “Transitions of Life: Day of the Dead Expressions Exhibit.”

Nieto-Phillips said individuals of any nationality or background can relate to the significance of honoring those who came before them.

“It allows us to remember those who have passed on and to remember their living legacy among us,” Nieto-Phillips said. “It’s a way of honoring their presence in our lives.”