Learning About Hispanic Cultures through the Study of Latino and Mexican Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions

BACKGROUND ESSAY

The people of Mexico have several important holidays and celebrations that are unique to its culture (image 1 and 2).  Some of these holidays are Mexico’s Independence Day (Fiestas Patrias), Day of the Dead (Día de los muertos), Cinco de Mayo, and other celebrations using the piñata.  The piñata is a brightly-colored paper container filled with candy and/or toys.  It is generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling and is used during celebrations. A succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children try to break the piñata in order to collect the candy (traditionally fruit, such as sugarcane) and/or toys inside of it..  This essay is a brief history of each of these followed by activities that can be done with students.   

The one tradition that my students always enjoy learning about is the tradition of celebrating events with a piñata (image 3).  For most children in the United States, a piñata is used primarily for birthday celebrations and it has no underlying meaning beyond being a fun game.  However, to people from Mexico and other Latin American countries, the piñata represents so much more.  The history behind the piñata is not exactly clear, but many believe it actually may have originated in China to celebrate the New Year.  Marco Polo believed to have brought it to European countries such as Spain, Italy and France.  The Spaniards then brought it over to the Americas when they came on their conquest.  However, it is believed that “indigenous peoples already had a similar tradition. To celebrate the birthday of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, priests placed a clay pot on a pole in the temple at year's end. Colorful feathers adorned the richly decorated pot, filled with tiny treasures.  When broken with a stick or club, the treasures fell to the feet of the god's image as an offering. The Mayans, great lovers of sport played a game where the player’s eyes were covered while hitting a clay pot suspended by string.  The traditional piñata (image 4) has a very religious background.  For more information on the piñata’s background please refer to the Resource Section.     

Day of the Dead, or in Spanish, Día de los muertos, is one Mexican holiday I always teach my students about no matter what their age.  Day of the Dead has much History behind it.  This holiday is celebrated on October 31, November 1 and November 2.   Most people from the United States will compare this holiday to Halloween, All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day.  Although there are similarities, there are more differences.  Day of the Dead is a combination of traditions from Mexican native peoples such as the Aztecs (image 5) and European Catholic traditions.  This holiday celebrates the circle of life.  It is a time when the living remembers loved ones who have passed away.  They build altars and fill them up with offerings or ofrendas (image 6). The altar and its offerings are considered a threshold between heaven and earth, and brings the reunion between the living and dead into the home.  Mexican people also visit their loved ones at cemeteries in these days.  This holiday is very mystical.  One key symbol of Day of the Dead is the calavera or skull, and the esqueleto or skeleton (image 7).  In the U.S., the skeleton carries an eerie reputation, but to the Aztecs and Mexicans, the calavera is used to help them face the fear of death by depicting death in a humorous or fun manner.

Dieciséis de septiembre (image 8) or September 16 is an important date for it marks the day Mexico began an eleven-year revolution to win freedom from Spain.  Dieciséis de septiembre is compared to the United States Independence Day, Fourth of July.  The political movement for political independence began in 1810 when Father Miguel Hidalgo (image 9) could no longer ignore the poor living conditions imposed by the Spanish Crown.  He screamed for freedom to the people in the small town of Dolores (today’s state of Guanajuato). This is also known as el grito Viva Mexico!, or cry for freedom. Until then Mexico had been under Spanish rule for 400 years.  Mexico finally won its freedom in 1821.  Celebrations for Mexico’s Independence Day usually begin with a reenactment of el grito.  The feasts follow the celebration with local food, such as raspadas, buñuelos, and tamales, and mariachis music and dancing. 

Mexican Independence Day cannot be celebrated without the Mexican flag (image 10) that was created as a result of Mexico’s independence. The Mexican flag is made of three main colors: green, white, and red. These colors refer to symbols for the Mexican people that have an important part in the celebrations.  Green symbolizes independence,  white symbolizes religion, and red symbolizes union.  The eagle eating the serpent in the center of the flag symbolizes what the Aztecs saw, according to their oral traditions, when they first settled the land and founded their capital city Tenochtitlan, presently known as Mexico City.

Finally I will address the important Mexican holiday called Cinco de Mayo, Fifth of May.  This holiday is similar to Mexico’s Independence Day, and is in fact sometimes considered Mexico’s Independence Day by foreigners, but it is not.  It is a celebration of Mexico’s victory over the French invasion.  Cinco de Mayo is based on the battle of Puebla in 1862 (image 11) led by Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin (image 12).  This battle was victorious for Mexico, but Mexico remained under French control until 1867.  This holiday is celebrated in similar ways to Mexico’s Independence Day (image 13).

In conclusion, these holiday and celebrations are all part of the wonderful and vivid Mexico.  They are among many of Mexico’s colorful celebrations.    
                        

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

1. After learning the history and purpose of piñatas, the teacher will do a demonstration on how to construct a piñata.  Each student will then construct his/her own piñata using the paper-mache technique.  Once these are constructed and dried, students will paint them and decorate them with other materials provided by the teacher or brought from home.  Finally, when they are finished the students will take them home to celebrate an important event in their own lives. 

2. After the students learn the history and meaning of Day of the Dead, either through a book like the one suggested below or through a video or lecture, the students can do different activities depending on the grade level.  Some ideas for activities are making sugar skulls, rattles from dried gourds and clay, skull masks, calavera puppets, pan de muerto (a sweet bread molded into the shape of a skull), or papel picado (paper streamers made up of rectangular sections that have been cut out, similar to snowflakes, to depict the skeleton in different scenes.)  One activity that I do with my fourth graders is making the calavera masks.  They love this.  First, they color a skull that is printed on white poster board with bright colored markers.  Then they cut them out and decorate them with feathers, glitter and other found materials.  Lastly, they tie a string around the back to attach the two sides so they can wear the mask.

3. Compare and contrast Mexico’s Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo.  Use examples to show similarities and differences.  This can be done through discussion, chart, or graph.