Campus and community organizations are hosting Day of the Dead celebrations in the runup to Dia de los Muertos on November 1 and 2. Day of the Dead is a holiday drawing from Indigenous and Catholic traditions. It’s mostly celebrated in Mexico, the Philippines and throughout Latin America.
Making ofrendas is one way people celebrate. Ofrendas are altars with a picture of a family member and items and food that the family member liked. Family members leave the gifts there for their loved ones to enjoy in the afterlife.
Ismael Mendez is an assistant manager at Columbia’s Los Comales Mexican Restaurant & Store. He said more people come into Los Comales during the holiday.
“They buy everything. You can tell they are going to make the – they call it an ofrenda – going to make that ofrenda at home for them,” Mendez said. “So, you do that. You can light a candle, water and your bread. That’s how – why we think they come in and get something to eat.”
Laura Gutierrez Perez, is a coordinator at the University of Missouri’s Cambio Center. She said Day of the Dead traditions can help Latine people connect with family – even with family members from countries that don’t traditionally celebrate the holiday.
“Even like some of them who are from Colombia who don’t necessarily – they told us that they had started doing it as well because it was such a great way to remember their loved ones,” Gutierrez Perez said.
So, even though Day of the Dead is about remembering family members who are no longer with us, it can also be a way to connect with the family members who are here, but far away.
The Cambio Center along with other organizations at MU will put ofrendas around campus to commemorate the holiday.
