Dia de Los Muertos: Remembering and Celebrating Lost Lives
This November 1st, we were excited and honored to host a celebration for Dia de los Muertos led by Community Chef Paula Hernandez and volunteers Moe Bowstern and Erin Yanke, with support from Community Engagement Manager Beatriz Gutierrez and Community Engagement Coordinator Jen Maynard. We shared the traditions of Dia de los Muertos while commemorating the lives of past ancestors. This year, special altar kits were handed out to participants that included the names of Black individuals whose lives were cut short by police violence, as well as hanging Black Lives Matter papel picado. Heartfelt gratitude goes out to all who joined us for this day of collective remembrance and healing.
Moe Bowstern, a long-time community organizer and new Zenger Farm volunteer, reflected below on the importance of Dia de los Muertos traditions:
By Moe Bowstern
My name is Moe Bowstern. I am a new volunteer at Zenger Farm, as well as a writer and a community artist. I create opportunities for people to engage in the crossroads of art, community and ceremony in order to provide support and resilience for the events of our lives.
Making an altar at Hallowe’en is a tradition for me connected to the earth-based spirituality of my German and Irish ancestors. Every year as I hear about a friend or family member who has died, I write the name down. In October, I get out my list of names and collect the images I have of the friends and family and animals I used to know when they were alive. I set up an altar and arrange the images. I display the names. I decorate with tablecloths, flowers, candles. I set out things my friends and family left behind–my Oma’s glasses, my Opa’s dice cup, my cat Francie’s collar tag. I set out things they used to enjoy–cigarettes for Aunt Fran and Grandma, a deck of cards for Uncle Ome, a country music tape for Duncan, a glass of wine for Carol.
It makes me sad sometimes to see the names, and to know the list will only grow as I age, but it also helps me remember these people. I think about how they lived and how they touched my life. For example, I think about how my cat Francie went to live with my Oma, and I put her collar next to the picture of my Oma. Working with my hands and my memories helps me settle my grief. When my grief is fresh from a difficult loss, I might make an especially big display for someone I was not ready to lose. I often cry as I work, and let the grief move through my body. I find that giving myself some time and space to grieve helps me value the people who are still in my life, and to live with the spirit of the person who is no longer bodily here.
This year I have heard from organizers of Black Lives Matter a request to say the names of Black people killed by police. I wanted to incorporate that request into my annual practice. My art collaborator Erin Yanke had a genius idea to easily share this practice with anyone. We assembled very simple altar kits to be decorated in any way that feels meaningful. We were supported in this with a beautiful commemorative poster in Spanish and English by artist Sharita Towne, portraits of George Floyd and Black Portlanders killed by police by Roberta Aylward and anonymous and we included special Black Lives Matter papel picado designs by artist Favianna Rodriguez.
We also remember Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2-Spirit people, people who died in ICE detention, the many people who died of COVID-19 this year. We offered the kits as a way for us as a society to help manage the profound disruption this year has brought. We wanted to be able to help people participate in this season in a way that was both respectful of COVID protocols and meaningful to our sense of the season.
By Colleen | November 10, 2020 | Uncategorized | Comments Off