Nov. 1, All Saints Day, and Nov. 2, All Souls Day, are marked throughout Mexico by an array of intriguing customs that vary widely according to the ethnic roots of each region.
But, on Halloween, Heroy Hall was filled with just as much excitement as any Mexican village, as SMU’s Anthropology Club and College Hispanic American Students geared up for their own early Dia De Los Muertos celebration, translated as Day of the Dead.
The celebration is in its fourth year here at SMU. The tradition was started in 2002 and began as a smaller gathering in the anthropology department’s lounge. It was started by Dr. David Friedel and funded by the University of Distinct Professor’s fund. The Dia de los Muertos celebration continued to heighten in success each year and is now an anticipated event for members of the Anthropology Club and CHAS.
Anthropology club member Megan Adams said, “This is the largest and most exciting event the club puts on during the fall semester. There is delicious free food, fun music and an all-around good time.”
The celebration is an invitation for students of all backgrounds to join in celebrating the traditional Mexican Holiday, Day of the Dead. The celebration included a potluck lunch with delicious authentic food such as tamales, rice dishes and bean dishes.
The head of the celebration this year is graduate student Olivia Farr.
“I love this, I live for this celebration,” Farr said, while preparing a plate of authentic Mexican food.
But, this day is not just a celebration for students and professors of Mexican heritage. The Anthropology Club included people from various cultural backgrounds and invited them to bring their own cultural food item or artifact that is associated with their own culture’s way of remembering the dead.
“Most cultures commemorate the dead in their own way, and we are inviting them to share their traditions on this day,” Farr said.
The room was filled with the smells of authentic Mexican food and was buzzing with traditional Mexican and early Tejano music. Skeletons, authentic Mexican clothing and Mexican artifacts hung on the walls.
According to the students, though, the most interesting part of the room was not the wildly colorful decorations or the plethora of food, but the table in the back of the room covered in candles and pictures of deceased loved ones to commemorate and celebrate the lives of the dead.
These Day of the Dead rituals are echoed in cities and villages throughout Mexico. Each locality offers distinct traditions and a unique flavor bound to fascinate any traveler in Mexico. But, the students who traveled to Room 153 of Heroy Hall Monday got their own taste of the traditions and customs of a very sacred holiday in the eyes of Mexicans and Mexican Americans all over the United States.
