How the Día de Muertos Ofrenda Tradition Shapes Mexico’s Identity Leigh Thelmadatter - Mexico News Daily
go to original October 20, 2022

The tradition can be used to make political statements. This ofrenda in Nayarit was dedicated to the 43 disappeared students from Guerrero’s Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College. (MND)

One of the most ubiquitous manifestations of Day of the Dead is the ofrenda, a word that can be translated both as “altar” and “offering” because it is indeed both.

These highly decorated tables filled with food, photos, candles, whimsical figures and more have their origins in the Mesoamerican belief that the dead return home once a year. Mexicans prepare for that occasion not in dread but rather as a family reunion.

The ritual is millennia old, but it has seen some significant changes in the past century. Essentially, it has been extended from a home or small-community ritual to a major expression of mexicanidad or Mexican identity.

Despite its connection with the afterworld, Day of the Dead altars are not considered religious and are not part of official Catholic rites. They developed as one of many examples of syncretism between indigenous and European beliefs.

Ofrendas are set up not only in homes but also in more public places like cemeteries. Graves are cleaned and repaired for the occasion, and many families spend hours here, sometimes even the night.

The rise of setting up ofrendas in public spaces has much to do with the federal government’s promotion of a concept of Mexican identity promoted after the Revolution. The new government’s Education Ministry allied with artists and others starting in the 1920s to promote a national identity based on indigenous as well as European roots.

This might seem obvious today, but back then, it was a radical idea.

Among many other elements of traditional culture, images of ofrendas found their way into art and publications, and the altars themselves began to appear in schools and other public places.

But why has this particular expression of mexicanidad become so popular all over Mexico and even beyond?

Read the rest at Mexico News Daily

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