HONOLULU — A Mexican-American, Episcopalian chaplain at a private school in Honolulu and two teachers want to show students how Mexicans celebrate — rather than mourn — the dead.
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition honoring the dead with feasts, marigolds, dancing and music.
“Being in Hawaii, Mexican culture is not as prevalent. However, Day of the Dead is becoming more mainstream,” said St. Andrew’s Schools chaplain Annalise Pasalo. “I really wanted the girls to see the true origin of the holiday. It is not Mexican Halloween. It’s my chance to share my culture.”
The tradition is featured in the award-winning Pixar animated film “Coco.”
The upcoming event for the schools’ 175 girls in grades six through 12 will include skull-painted faces, photos of dead relatives for an ofrenda, or altar, and a ceremony featuring hymns and readings by students conducted in Spanish, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .
Dia de los Muertos is an effort by the Catholic Church in Mexico to embrace an ancient Aztec pagan ritual honoring the dead.
“When Christianity arrived in Mexico, they had to marry the beliefs,” said Nydia Santiago-Cordero, who teaches languages, including Spanish, at St. Andrew’s.
She said the Aztecs believed the highest state of being is the dead.
While it will be the first Dia de los Muertos event held in St. Andrew’s chapel, there have been other celebrations of the tradition at other Hawaii campuses, such as skeleton paintings at the Catholic Maryknoll School.
None of Hawaii’s Catholic parishes have done anything on a large scale, said Patrick Downes, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
Pasalo said she wants the students to learn that death is not scary. “It’s something that’s OK to talk about, but we don’t have a lot of forums for that in our society,” she said.
“We’re trying to have the girls be more empathetic to other traditions and cultures,” said visual arts teacher Alethia Donathan. “We’re losing a lot of that.”
