Honoring their culture
It is a year-round labor of love when the Hispanic community of Flagstaff prepares for the annual Celebraciones de la Gente festival at the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Families here have much to do: Search in the garage for grandmother's crochet doilies; call relatives for a comb or brush used by a deceased uncle; and bake loaves of Mexican pan de muerto (bread of the dead), using eggs, anise seeds and an orange glaze -- among many ingredients.
For Becca Ceballos-DeLap, who is one of eight children born to Agapito and Eugenia Sanchez Ceballos here in Flagstaff, preparing for the festival is well worth the effort. It encompasses Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a Mesoamerican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Southwest.
Coinciding with the Catholic Holy Days of All Souls Day and All Saints Day, this ancient Aztec tradition is celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 each year and welcomes back the spirits of loved ones who have passed.
FUN, THERAPEUTIC FESTIVAL
Ceballos-DeLap and her extended family work all year to gather the pieces necessary to assemble the ofrendas -- or altars -- to honor departed ones.
On the family altar are the chicken enchiladas and Corona beer for her brother, Gilbert, who died in a car accident six years ago, and the sardines and crackers for her father Agapito, who died in 1983 and liked to take these foods on hunting trips.
"I think because of what we do, it is definitely an important holiday," she said. "It's how we remember our family. In Mexico, they spend more money preparing food for this holiday than they do for Christmas. They prepare tons of food, including tons of bread. In our case, we're always on the lookout for something we can place on our altars. It's fun, and it's therapeutic. It's a very nice celebration, I think."
In all, 20 altars are being displayed this weekend in the courtyard at MNA, with many Hispanic families participating.
Cakes For Quincenera - News
Other, more secular traditions still can have religious overtones, such as the quincenera, the celebration of a girl's 15th birthday and the passage from childhood to young womanhood, which can be combined with the Mass. Although some of the newer
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“People were telling me they hated that they could not do certain things; they did not like that they could not host their wedding party or quinceanera the way they wanted to,” he said. Milestone Celebrations has already booked two events for the fall.
Quinceanera Cakes » HB 826 Education News - a education blog ~
It’s your daughter’s 15th birthday and you want to make it special for her. Here’s an notion. Why not have a Quinceanera party for her? Its standard as well as fun. You’ll be able to even have Quinceanera cakes and also set up a theme according to it. Its some thing new to try out and your daughter will basically really like you for it. Desire to know much more about this Quinceanera party and exactly where does its roots go back to? Just read on and you may know.
Where Does This All Commence? The history of the quinceanera parties, goes back towards the period of the Aztecs in Mexico. Throughout those times, that’s, in the course of the 16th century, females were regarded as the ones who had to obey their husband and bear young children. They were married off at a very early age, 15 years, as well as the only education they were given was to carry out household duties. Thus, 15 was a special age for the girls. It signified their entry into womanhood. To mark this auspicious day, the quinceanera parties were held in their honor. The girl’s family members escorted her into her new life and also the complete community was there to witness it. So what does the term quinceanera mean? It can be a Spanish word were quince means “fifteen” and anos indicates “years”.
When Spain attacked the Aztecs in 1521, there was a cultural exchange. The quinceanera tradition continued but, now the girl was given an option. When she turned 15, she either had to devote her life towards the Catholic church and remain a single woman forever, or to marry and raise a family. The Spaniards further contributed towards the quinceanera culture by adding music and dance within the celebrations. This practice is nonetheless carried on among a lot of Hispanic people. Many American families also follow this tradition of celebrating their daughter’s entry into womanhood, but they celebrate the 16th birthday rather than the 15th birthday. That is why the term ‘sweet sixteen’.