Family is an essential part of Día de los Muertos. So it would only make sense that one of Phoenix’s Día de los Muertos celebrations has generational ties.
Carmen Guerrero, executive director of the Cultural Coalition, and her husband, Zarco Guerrero, have marked the occasion for about 45 years. Their son, Quetzal Guerrero, known by his artist name as QVLN, performed at their celebration this year.
Their MIKIZTLI event honors the Indigenous Aztec roots of the holiday. MIKIZTLI translates to “transition.”
Carmen said MIKIZTLI has a deeper meaning in relation to the holiday, which is a celebration of life.
“There's no real word for death in the Nahuatl language, which is the language of the Aztecs. They didn't have a concept of death as being a finite, linear concept,” she said.
She says the coalition decided to change the name to MIKIZTLI after seeing Día de los Muertos celebrations commercialized.
“There's a lack of authenticity. Like people have commercialized, have appropriated the whole theme, and then there's also a tendency to match it with Halloween, which is a totally different tradition,” she said.
Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday— celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 — where families honor their ancestors. The festival began around 3,000 years ago as an Aztec celebration, known as Mihcailhuitl in the Nahuatl language.
Spanish conquistadors later brought their Catholic tradition, All Souls Day, to the Americas. The modern-day Día de los Muertos is influenced by these different traditions.
MIKIZTLI, held in November at the Arizona Center, brought the traditions that Carmen and Zarco saw in Mexico to Phoenix, including creating altars, sharing food and decorating with marigolds and skulls.
The event also emphasized the importance of healing. A mini clinic provided health information, and curanderas, or healers, provided limpias, cleansings to the community. Some of the healers’ services included massages, burning incense and praying.
Although Día de los Muertos is a celebration, Carmen says losing a loved one is still a difficult experience.
“When you celebrate somebody's passing, when you celebrate the life of somebody, you heal yourself from the pain of suffering,” she said.
Zarco says the celebration itself is healing.
"Culture, we see as a healing art. So we celebrate this because we want to bring harmony, peace, peace of mind and joy to our community that we wouldn't otherwise have access to,” he said.
The event celebrated Native American roots through a powwow dance from Indigenous Enterprise. Youth mariachi groups and folklorico dance groups also performed. Zarco says that although the festival is deeply rooted in Mexican indigenous culture, the celebration is shared by everyone.
“Every faction of the community is embracing it, and that proves how powerful and how meaningful it is to the community as a whole, because culture isn't something that you hoard, culture is something that you share. And it's always in transition and growing and developing,” he said.
The attendees also joined Zarco in a tradition known as a grito, or shout to express pride and other emotions associated with the event.
QVLN, who’s a violinist as well as an artist, also performed at the festival. He says sharing this festival with his family is enriching.
“I feel very thankful to be able to have that opportunity to do that and to see how it's done with so many people who are involved in the festival over the generations as well. So it's like just to even be able to witness it. You know, I feel like it's a big privilege,” he said.
The celebration ended with a procession and burning of penas, or pieces of paper that honor loved ones.
“We need to reclaim the true meaning of the holiday and celebrate the fact that it's not about death. It's about transcendence. It's about overcoming the hardships of this life and accepting death as an integral part of life and not fearing death, and therefore we live a healthier life,” Zarco said.
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