For these three Mexican Utahns the rituals behind the tradition of Dia de los Muertos work as a bridge between the living and the dead.
The rituals behind the tradition of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, include creating altars that feature photographs, catrinas, food, papier-mâché and marigolds to tell the story of families, and work as a bridge between the living and the dead.
As Martinez overlooks the ofrenda she has made for Florecita in her Salt Lake City home, her words are nostalgic and reflective. As she speaks, there’s no doubt how much she loves her sister, to whom she bears a striking resemblance.The ofrenda isn’t quite completed to her liking, but she still has time to get it ready before the three-day holiday.
Diana Martinez celebrates Day of the Dead by setting up an ofrenda at her home in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, dedicated to her sister Florecita who died by suicide in 2018. After it happened, Martinez said she did a lot of research. “It’s unfortunate that a lot of our BIPOC communities go through this,” she said. “It’s a taboo topic, it’s a cultural thing.”
“What my family does when somebody passes away, there’s a ceremony and we always make sure to play the song ‘Dios Nunca Muere,’ which means ‘God never dies,’” she said. It’s also Oaxaca’s state song. “We played it when it was Florecita’s funeral and every time somebody passes away,” she said. Celebrating Día de los Muertos is also a way to “reconcile spiritually” with her father, Vallarta said. Their relationship, she said, was fraught at times.
That, Vallarta added, was her father on his best days. On his worst, he was someone who struggled with addiction, anger and generational trauma. Everyone has spaces in their homes where they gather photos and memories, Vallarta said, whether or not you think of it as an “official” altar. “It’s kind of a naturally occurring phenomenon,” she said. “We do it as a way of conjuring fond memories and figuring out how to give ourselves closure.”
When it comes to putting her ofrenda together, Vallarta said she always misses the time for marigolds, so she chooses whatever flowers she “vibes with” in the moment. On her ofrenda, she puts some of her dad’s favorite foods and things he liked to drink.Bernardo Palacio-Carbajal“My ofrenda is a 10th generation ofrenda,” she said. ‘It’s all mixed up, just like me. There are pieces of my ancestry from all over.
Her mother would patiently explain every step of the ritual, and with her new understanding came appreciation of this ancestral tradition. But, it wasn’t until she became a mother, and also experienced grief first-hand, that she saw beyond the reminiscence of past generations.