Embracing Remembrance: Dia de los Muertos

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Dia de los Muertos translated to Day of the dead in English is a famous holiday celebrated in Mexico every year on November 1. It is thought that by doing this celebration we are celebrating death but it is the opposite, by celebrating El Dia de los Muertos we are remembering our relatives. In this special day altars are set up with candles lit up and the reason of this it is so that spirits can find their way home. The altar offers spirits their favorite food and in general their favorite things that they used to enjoy when they were around us. The most familiar symbol of this special day celebrated most typically in Mexico and in border cities such as Ciudad Juarez and El Paso Texas are calacas (skeletons) or calaveras (skulls). This ritual was started by the Aztecs about 3,000 years ago [1]. It is believe that on October 31 the doors of heaven open and all of the deceased persons can reunited with their family this is a …show more content…

We dressed the skeleton with a dress, a sombrero and a rifle representing how Petra Herrera used to dress like. We decided to dedicate an altar to Petra Herrera for her greatest contribution to Mexican History and because of her African ancestry. Petra was distinguished by being one of the few female soldiers that went into combat with men despite having faced abuse by her fellow soldiers. During the Mexican Revolution she went by the name of Pedro Herrera and by doing this she was able to demonstrate leadership skills and was able to establish reputation. [2] According to mexfiles.net Petra Herrera participated in the second battle of Torreón on May 30, 1914 along with about 400 other women, even being named by some as being deserving of full credit for the battle. [4] As a result of Pancho villa’s “Machismo” Petra was not promoted to general because of her gender and her response to this decision was leaving the forces and creating her own all-woman brigade

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