Student Tribune
Day of the Dead
Campus Activities Board along with the PRISM Multicultural Center
presents
DAY OF THE DEAD
Origins of Day of the Dead
The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and
among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go
back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central
Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral,
ever-present part of life.
Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of
the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of
several years, could the person's soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting
place. In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family
members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult
journey. This inspired the contemporary Day of the Dead practice in which
people leave food or other offerings on their loved ones' graves, or set them
out on makeshift altars called ofrendas in their homes.
Please stop in and visit the Altar display (which is really amazing), in the
PRISM Multicultural Center in Building 1 - Room 108. The display will be up for
viewing from now until November 8, 2019. Professor Jorge Alas will
have presentation and discussion about the display, what it all means on
November 5, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Attached Files:
HISPANIC HERITAGE 3 EVENTS.pdf
Batistta-Provost, Shirley
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
11/05/2019