Day of the Dead

(Antonio Banuelos-Moriel is standing in the hallway of a school. There are student lockers on each side of the hallway. Antonoio is wearing a dark blue sports coat over a white and blue checked shirt. There is a colorful handkerchief in the breast pocket of his coat.)

[Antonio Banuelos-Moriel] Hello, I am Antonio Banuelos-Moriel. I go to Dowling Catholic and I'm a senior. and here are some important things you should know about Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos.

(text on the screen) Day of the Dead Día de los Muertos

(Colorful papel picado flags strung across an open area waving in the breeze like streamers.)

(A person puts face painting of the calavera (skull) on a young girl’s face.)

(An ofrenda)

(text on the screen) Remembering Loved Ones

[Antonio] Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is celebrated from November 1 through November 2. It's a holiday that is celebrated all between the two days. And we use those days to remember the souls that have passed. Of the people who have passed in our lives. Our families. Whether they have passed away and gone on to the afterlife or heaven.

(text on the screen) Origins in Aztec Culture

[Antonio] Día de los Muertos dates back all the way to the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

(A map of Mexico with the Aztec Empire in the southern section of Mexico highlighted in red.)

(A drawing of Aztec men and women holding their hands up into the air as if in prayer while baskets of fruits and vegetables surround them.)

(A drawing of three Aztec women conversing with baskets of vegetables around them.)

[Antonio] They would offer fruit. They would offer vegetables. They would offer gifts to those who would pass on. They would bury them. And the Aztec Empire it was really common to really respect the dead for everything that they've done for us in a past life.

(Three Spanish conquistador soldiers in armor holding spears and shields.)

[Antonio] Near the 1500s, Spanish colonizers came into Mexico and conquered the Aztec Empire.

(A painting of the Aztec Empire as the Spanish invaded)

[Antonio] And they brought a lot of the Catholic views into Mexico. And a lot of the Day of the Dead traditions have been influenced from the Catholic views of the Spanish conquerors.

(A painting of two conquistador soldiers kneeling as they prayed.)

(fruit in baskets)

(Two skeletons. One in a blue flowered dress with a black hat and one in a blue and black pullover hoodie surrounded by marigolds.)

(Several ofrendas at night are lit by candles.)

(A woman with half of her face made up into the calavera (skull) with a feathered headdress.)

[Antonio] That's why we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the same day as Day of the Dead. Because a lot of the Spanish conquerors really wanted to influence that Catholic view into the Day of the Dead. So me and my family, we celebrate Day of the Dead every year. My mom works at the diocese of Des Moines and we always make an ofrenda there.

(The ofrenda is a table covered with an orange table cloth with fruits in baskets, a plate of bread, and a burning white candle. Behind the food is a picture of an older man in a white shirt and sweater vest in jeans holding a cowboy hat.)

[Antonio] We also, on Day of the Dead, we also pray to those that have passed on. We have a lot of family members in our family who have passed away that I've never met. But I feel like celebrating Day of the Dead really impacts me because I get to really get to know my family members that I've never met. Based on the stories of my family. Based on what they tell me. And it's just a really, it's a really great holiday to really remember what kind of people you come from. What kind of people influenced me to be who I am today.

(music)

(text on screen Educate, Inform,Enrich, Inspire Iowa PBS)