Today, Day of the Dead in Aztlan has become one of the most celebrated Mexican cultural traditions in the southwest United States. It strengthens the cultural cohesion of the Chicano community and is an unprecedented example of how Chicano movement politics and Neo-Native philosophy have merged to create a vital new Chicano art form. By the mid-20th century, festivities to commemorate El Día de los Muertos declined and even disappeared among the Mexican American population living in urban communities across the United States. It was the product of increased cultural assimilation. In 1972, Chicana/o artists living in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas took a stand against this whitewashing trend and reclaimed the Day of the Dead as an ethnic ritual by reviving, renewing, and reinventing it. . This cultural phenomenon was embraced by many communities in the Southwest, sparked by social and political struggles, known today as the Chicano Movement, giving it its decidedly political nature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Chicano artists have since incorporated Day of the Dead practices, and their artistic production shows cultural recovery efforts of self-preservation and empowerment. It is important to mention that most efforts were ephemeral and not intended to be observed by the community or critics as artistic practices. According to Carlos Francisco Jackson, the Day of the Dead is the result of hybrid Mexican and Mexican-American religious practices, resulting from the blending of pre-Columbian spirituality and Spanish Catholicism. El Día de los Muertos, or El Día de los Fieles Difuntos, connects rituals that pay homage to the pre-Columbian memory of the sacred afterlife, with two Roman Catholic holidays. In their efforts to expand and improve their visual vocabulary and evolving symbolic system, Chicano artists discovered this hidden pictorial language in Mexican sources and carefully appropriated it, much as a visual archaeologist would. In this cultural dig for new, meaningful, and self-defining iconography, Chicano artists embraced Mexico's indigenous past. Día de los Muertos originated in ancient Mesoamerica, encompassing Mexico and the northern part of Central America. These cultures practiced similar ceremonies and shared similar values ​​toward death and the afterlife. Human beings were believed to descend to the underworld after death where they would reach Xibalba (place of fear), coined by the Mayan belief system, where there was not much chance of escape unless a individual dies a violent death and avoids Xibalba altogether. The underworld was largely associated with water, with its own vast and varied landscape. It was ruled by a group of around 9 or 14 gods with fearsome names, known collectively as the Lords of the Underworld, and as its inhabitants, bloodthirsty predators lived there. The Mayans believed that the underworld had nine different levels and two great rivers. which crosses it. To reach the ninth level, the deceased had to face many trials and tribulations, including crossing dangerous waters and rivers of blood, high mountains, fending off knives and spinning obsidian arrows, not to mention the sacrifice of his heart. To help the souls survive this ordeal, they were buried or cremated with weapons, tools, kits.weaving, jade and other precious goods, foods like hot chocolate, and even real or pottery dog ​​figurines to guide souls and serve as companions. For the Nahua people, the soul was a divine creation making it indestructible, allowing them to now enter the afterlife. Special destinations were assigned to those who died in combat, aquatic diseases, childbirth, and babies who died prematurely. Nevertheless, the majority of the deceased entered Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead, ruled by Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl. Chicunamictlán, like Xibalba, had nine levels. The journey to reach Mictlán, their final resting place, would take approximately four years, where the souls would face many perils. Rituals to honor the dead held by the Nahua people in August required family members to provide provisions such as food, water, and tools to help the deceased on this arduous journey. Coincidentally, ancient Europe also held pagan celebrations for their deceased in the fall. These celebrations included bonfires, dancing and feasting. The Roman Catholic Church unofficially adopted some of these customs and incorporated them into two of their minor holidays, All Saints' Day celebrated on November 1 and subsequently All Saints' Day, celebrated on November 2. On All Saints' Day, people in medieval Spain brought wine and pan de ánimas (spiritual bread) to the graves of their deceased. Then they covered the graves with flowers and lit candles in an attempt to light the deceased soul's path back to Earth. The 16th-century Spanish conquistadors brought these traditions to the New World, with a darker view of death as a product of the devastation caused by the bubonic plague. Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and other indigenous groups who commemorated their deceased at different times. depending on whether the loved one was an adult or a child at the time of death, mixed these two Spanish holidays with their pre-Hispanic traditions to designate November 1 as the day of commemoration of deceased children, while November 2 served to honor the adults. Jackson informs us that traditionally, practices for celebrating Day of the Dead include a special mass, prayers, visits to the graves of deceased loved ones, candlelight vigils, the preparation and consumption of special foods, and provisions for the dead, including food, water, flowers, candles, and personal symbolic trinkets placed and arranged on home altars, called ofrendas (offerings) during Día de los Muertos celebrations. Influences on the development of a Chicano iconography include the lithographs and etchings of the master of Mexican printmaking, José Guadalupe Posada. His Day of the Dead-inspired folk art was satirical and political in nature, where his animated skeletons (Calaveras) became well known. Posada's calaveras were a powerful means of moralization and social equalization. In the United States, Chicano artists of the 1970s produced Día de los Muertos works referencing Posada's work, transporting the image of the calavera to new frontiers. Chicano artists also used altars and nichos, which are used to display images of saints, to remember and pay homage to the lives and contributions that deceased family members, friends, and community figures left behind. through their contributions, to document history. collective memory of the Mexican American community. In 1970, the painter Carlos Bueno, the photographer Antonio Ibanez and the graphic designerSister Karen Boccalero begins an artistic collaboration in an East Los Angeles garage. This artistic collaboration led to the creation of Self Help Graphics, which became the primary driving force behind other Chicano/Latino variations of the Día de los Muertos celebration. In 1972, these artists acquired a studio in Boyle Heights, where other local Chicano artists joined them, including Michael Amescua, Manuel Cruz, Frank Hernandez, Leo Limon, Sarah Pineda and Pete Tovar. A tradition of pilgrimage to Evergreen Cemetery was held on All Saints' Day. This happened spontaneously and without publicity, without a city permit and with little activity at the cemetery. In doing so, these artists' goal was to generate cultural awareness, ethnic pride, and collective fulfillment for the East Los Angeles community. Calavera's imagery, altar making, and poster art became primary elements of Day of the Dead iconography. In 1974, the celebration attracted other artist collaborations from different Chicano artistic communities in Los Angeles. Art collectives such as ASCO (Harry Gamboa, Gronk, Willie Herron and Patssi Valdez) and Los Four artists (Carlos Almaraz and Frank Romero) participated in this event. In 1976, Día de los Muertos gained the admiration of community members who also participated in this annual, community-based, locally organized celebration. To fund these activities, a grant was created by the National Endowment for the Humanities and municipal permits were approved. Music, dance, Catholic and Native American rituals attract a thousand people to the cemetery. From 1974 to 1982, the event followed an established format. From Evergreen Cemetery, community participants, students, artists, and student-artist collaborations would bring folk art items such as Calavera masks, puppets, papel picado banners, papel mache crosses , costumes and sculptures of pre-Hispanic Mexican imagery. Activities at the cemetery included Native American rituals and a Catholic mass, followed by the parade back to the Self Help Graphics studio, which normally attracted participants along the way. Different artists came each year, including “Calavera Band” (1977) and “El Fin del Mundo” (1979) from Teatro Campesino, as well as the cast of “Zoot Suit” (1978). Once arriving at the studio, participants placed art objects, photographs, cempasuchil flowers and offerings on the altars constructed before the event, thus concluding the walk. Followed by musical and theatrical performances, sales of art objects and traditional dishes such as atole and pan de muerto. In the evening, a candlelight procession to a nearby Catholic church marked the end of the celebration. In 1978, a three-page document was produced for the community by the artists of Self Help Graphics describing their Día de los Muertos ceremony. It is written: “In our ceremonies we use Copal incense from pine trees, feathers, fire, music and dance, the turtle drum and, most importantly, a sincere heart… Our elders teach us how to develop Cara y Corazon, a sincere heart. . Face and Heart, to become a people in their own right. After generating national recognition and scholarly interest and research, Self Help Graphics recognized its contribution to North American culture. Self Help Graphics also hosted an annual art show featuring the work of local Chicano artists, inspired by the theme of El Día de los Muertos. In 1977, the Galleria Otra Vez was established by a group of artists including Carlos Almaraz, Michael Amescua, Richard,.