Death is something inevitably shared by all of us; to celebrate it, to talk about it, and to laugh together in spite of fear allows us to grow and embrace the duality of life. For this reason, celebrations such as the Day of the Dead- present across different cultures and countries -offer us a space to, as a community, feel, share memories, and recognize that the love for those who have passed always remains, even if it changes form.<\/p>\n
We remember them with joy, with sorrow, with affection; with their favorite foods and drinks.<\/p>\n
We remember them in every face of those who are still here, in every trace they left behind, in every lesson they taught us.<\/p>\n
We remember them when we speak to them, when we feel them, when we love them; when we give ourselves the space to live through whatever emotion arises.<\/p>\n
We remember them once more, because in the rhythm of daily life we may forget that, although they are no longer here as before, they are still present.<\/p>\n
Indigenous Peoples have a different appreciation of death: first, they recognize it as a natural part of life; second, they celebrate it and welcome it; and third, they laugh at it. All this with the intention of seeing it as it truly is, death, nothing more. Without the mind\u2019s added layers, without attachment to the material state of existence.<\/p>\n
On Monday, November 3rd, during an intimate and special autumn afternoon, we gathered in community – students, professors, and staff from ÌÇÐÄvlog; leaders and members of the Indigenous communities of Mexico and Ecuador; and students from the Kichwa Language and Culture course, their instructor and Kichwa community leader, Atik Paguay, his family, to take part in this event called: Dia de los muertos: from memory to tradition\u201d.<\/p>\n
On this occasion, we built together the temple for our beloved departed, with yellow and orange flowers; we placed their photos, offered their favorite fruits, and each person shared an intention or a personal message for their loved ones.<\/p>\n
We learned about calaveritas, that poetic form that turns our fears into humor and allows us to celebrate life. The session was guided by the Mexican Indigenous artist Marco Nieto, who invited us to laugh at death through words and creativity.<\/p>\n
We invited death – the calaca, the huesuda, as our Mexican brothers and sisters call her -; we wrote her a poem, laughed at her, and drew her closer to us, normalizing what is still considered taboo or superstition. In doing so, we softened with joy what once caused us fear.<\/p>\n
Ver\u00f3nica Muenala, a Kichwa Otavalo leader and member of the Pueblos Originarios group, prepared the \u201ccolada morada\u201d for us, offering much more than a drink. During the Spanish conquest, the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador created it as a symbol of resistance, honor, and connection with their departed loved ones.<\/p>\n
This beverage, made with purple corn representing life, and morti\u00f1o (andean blueberry), which connects us with the departed, along with guaguas de pan, gives us a symbolic means to talk to them.
\nWe had the opportunity to form a circle and shout in harmony, \u201cWantiya.\u201d As Atik Paguay explained, it is an energetic cry that people traditionally use so that the energies of the deceased may be welcomed into the natural environment.<\/p>\n
Finally, Mije leader, Pr\u00f3spero Mart\u00ednez shared his live music, filling the space with his guitar, songs, and energy. His presence reminded us that traditions are also sound, body, and community.
\nAll these different Day of the Dead traditions, together, achieve the same purpose: an encounter with those who have passed on to another state, unknown, yet close. A place where the material body ceases to exist, but energy continues its journey through the vast universe of which we are all a part.<\/p>\n
We thank the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Latin American Indigenous Collaborative (LAIC) of CLaSE for organizing an event that allowed us to reconnect with our loved ones. We honored them as a community and perceived death as a state of energetic transformation.<\/p>\n
The emotions and thoughts this event evoked in me were deeply tied to the familiarity of these traditions, to my Ecuadorian culture, and to the recent memory of my grandfather, who passed away a few months ago. It offered me a perspective of celebration that doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be sad, but rather colorful, energetic, and full of hope.
\nWantiya to all our loved ones, may the energetic cry have been felt, and may your energy have been embraced by nature.<\/p>\n
Written by: Micaela Pesantez Rodriguez – Graduate Students and HOLA fellow.<\/p>\n
En espa\u00f1ol:<\/strong><\/p>\n La muerte es algo inevitablemente com\u00fan a todos nosotros; celebrarla, conversar sobre ella y re\u00edrnos juntos, a pesar del miedo, nos permite crecer y abrazar la dualidad de la vida. Por eso, celebraciones como el D\u00eda de los Muertos, presentes en distintas culturas y pa\u00edses, nos conceden este espacio para que, en comunidad, nos permitamos sentir, compartir memorias y reconocer que el amor hacia nuestros difuntos siempre permanece, aunque cambie de forma.<\/p>\n Los recordamos con alegr\u00eda, con pena, con cari\u00f1o; con sus comidas y bebidas favoritas de las personas queridas que ya dejaron este mundo.<\/p>\n Los recordamos en cada rostro de quienes siguen aqu\u00ed, en cada huella que dejaron, en cada lecci\u00f3n que nos ense\u00f1aron.<\/p>\n Los recordamos al hablarles, al sentirles, al amarles; al darnos el espacio para vivir cualquier emoci\u00f3n que surja.<\/p>\n Los recordamos una vez m\u00e1s, porque con el ritmo diario quiz\u00e1 olvidamos que, aunque ya no est\u00e1n como antes, siguen estando.<\/p>\n Los Pueblos Originarios tienen una apreciaci\u00f3n distinta de la muerte: primero, la reconocen como parte natural de la vida; segundo, la celebran y le dan la bienvenida; y tercero, se r\u00eden de ella. Todo esto con la intenci\u00f3n de verla tal como es: muerte, nada m\u00e1s. Sin a\u00f1adiduras de la mente, sin apego al estado material de la existencia.<\/p>\n El lunes 3 de noviembre, durante una \u00edntima y especial tarde de oto\u00f1o, nos reunimos en comunidad: estudiantes, profesores y administrativos de la Universidad de Montclair; l\u00edderes y miembros de las comunidades ind\u00edgenas de M\u00e9xico y Ecuador; los estudiantes del curso de lengua y cultura Kichwa, su instructor y l\u00edder de comunidades Kichwa, Atik Paguay, su familia, para participar en el evento titulado: \u201cD\u00eda de los Muertos: de la memoria a la tradici\u00f3n\u201d.<\/p>\n En esta ocasi\u00f3n todos nosotros armamos el templo para nuestros queridos muertos, con flores amarillas y anaranjadas; colocamos sus fotos, ofrecimos sus frutas favoritas, y cada persona comparti\u00f3 una intenci\u00f3n o un mensaje personal para sus seres queridos.<\/p>\n Aprendimos sobre las calaveritas, ese recurso po\u00e9tico que transforma nuestros miedos en humor y nos permite celebrar la vida. La sesi\u00f3n fue guiada por el poeta y artista mexicano Marco Nieto, quien nos invit\u00f3 a re\u00edrnos de la muerte a trav\u00e9s de la palabra y la creatividad.<\/p>\n Invitamos a la muerte – la calaca, la huesuda – como le dicen nuestros hermanos mexicanos; le escribimos una poes\u00eda, nos re\u00edmos de ella y la acercamos a nosotros, normalizando aquello que a\u00fan es tab\u00fa o superstici\u00f3n. As\u00ed, suavizamos con alegr\u00eda lo que alguna vez nos caus\u00f3 temor.<\/p>\n Ver\u00f3nica Muenala, miembro de los Pueblos Originarios, nos prepar\u00f3 la colada morada y nos brind\u00f3 algo mucho m\u00e1s que una bebida. Durante la conquista espa\u00f1ola, los pueblos ind\u00edgenas del Ecuador la crearon como un s\u00edmbolo de resistencia, honor y conexi\u00f3n con sus muertos.<\/p>\n Esta bebida, elaborada con ma\u00edz morado que representa la vida y con morti\u00f1o, que nos une con los difuntos, junto a las guaguas de pan, nos brinda un medio simb\u00f3lico para conversar con ellos. Finalmente, el l\u00edder ind\u00edgena mije, Pr\u00f3spero Mart\u00ednez, comparti\u00f3 su m\u00fasica en vivo, llenando el espacio del sonido de su guitarra, cantos y energ\u00eda. Su presencia nos record\u00f3 que las tradiciones son tambi\u00e9n m\u00fasica, cuerpo y comunidad.<\/p>\n Todas estas diferentes tradiciones del D\u00eda de los Muertos, en conjunci\u00f3n, logran el mismo prop\u00f3sito: un encuentro con los que ya han pasado a otro estado, desconocido y, al mismo tiempo, cercano. Un lugar donde el cuerpo material deja de existir, pero la energ\u00eda contin\u00faa su camino en el vasto universo del que todos somos parte.<\/p>\n Agradecemos al Consejo de los Pueblos Originarios y al Latin American Indigenous Collaborative (LAIC) de CLaSE por haber organizado un evento que nos permiti\u00f3 reconectar con nuestros seres queridos. Los honramos en comunidad y percibimos la muerte como un estado de transformaci\u00f3n energ\u00e9tica.<\/p>\n Las emociones y pensamientos que gener\u00f3 en m\u00ed este evento estuvieron profundamente ligados a la familiaridad de estas tradiciones, a mi cultura ecuatoriana y al recuerdo reciente de mi abuelo, quien parti\u00f3 hace unos meses. Me ofreci\u00f3 una perspectiva de celebraci\u00f3n que no necesariamente necesita ser triste, sino en cambio colorida, energ\u00e9tica y esperanzadora.<\/p>\n Wantiya a todos nuestros seres queridos – que el grito energ\u00e9tico se haya sentido y que la energ\u00eda de ustedes haya sido aceptada en la naturaleza.<\/p>\n Micaela Pesantez Rodriguez – Estudiante de graduado y miembro de HOLA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Death is something inevitably shared by all of us; to celebrate it, to talk about it, and to laugh together in spite of fear allows us to grow and embrace the duality of life. For this reason, celebrations such as the Day of the Dead- present across different cultures and countries -offer us a space […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clase","category-hola"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":337,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions\/337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTuvimos la oportunidad de armar un c\u00edrculo y gritar en armon\u00eda \u201cWantiya\u201d. Como explic\u00f3 Atik Paguay, es un grito energ\u00e9tico que la gente acostumbra mencionar para que las energ\u00edas de los fallecidos sean aceptadas en el entorno de la naturaleza.<\/p>\n