Spanish club celebrates halloween

The University of South Dakota’s Spanish Club recently celebrated the Hispanic holiday, Dia De Los Muertos, meaning day of the dead in Spanish.  The holiday was celebrated by building an altar for Diego Rivera, a deceased Spanish artist. This is just one of the many traditions that is practiced over the three day holiday.

“The holiday is all about celebrating who they (the deceased) were,“ said sophomore Raelyn Geigle, a member of the Spanish club and presenter in the event.

The first day of the holiday, Oct. 31 is dedicated to the children. The children build a miniature alter to ask other children who have passed to come back and visit them. The altars themselves are decorated by flowers, candied skulls, and pictures of the loved ones that passed.
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Each altar is different, however, because each one has favorite objects of the deceased. Central Americans believe that this is the one night of the year that their ancestors can once again enjoy the things they loved when they were still alive.

The next day Nov. 1, families gather at the cemeteries and begin to light candles in a trail from the cemetery to the home. This is so that the deceased can find their way back to the places they once called home and remember the lives they lived.

Commenting on the holiday, vice president Nicholas Peckas said, “it’s not that we should mourn, it’s that we should celebrate their lives.”

Nov. 2 is the most somber day of the festival. This is the day that the souls are to return to the realms of the dead. The festival ends at around midnight and all day the families of those that have passed gather in the cemetery until then to bid their loved ones a safe travel back.

The day of the dead is not just a decorative holiday it is also a holiday like any other in the Untited States. Dia De Los Muertos is also celebrated by different foods. These include the candied skulls and a special type of bread called pan de muerto.

Junior John Eri explained “the reason pan de muerto is decorated with bones is because there is a god who uses human remains to show himself.”

Another popular image of Dia De Los Muertos is that of la calavera catrina, or the elegant skull. Originally used as political satire it is now a dominant symbol of the day of the dead. The image is of a skull dressed as an upper class European counterpart with a large hat and plenty of flowers. This image was designed and perpetuated by artist Jose Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900’s.

Although Dia De Los Muetos is traditionally celebrated in Central America, USD’s Spanish club brought the holiday to campus to show the diversity on campus and show students other meanings to Hallowee