By Jesse Medina
Dios De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is being observed at the Community Partnerships building all of this month. In conjunction, Kathy T. Hettinga was also at the Community Partnerships on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. She was promoting her book, Grave Images: San Luis Valley, a book containing photographs and a history of the San Luis Valley’s rural graveyards.
There was a myriad of exhibits displaying photographs and items honoring deceased members of the Alamosa community. In addition, some old photographs of Alamosa were displayed. Photographs of the train depot circa 1878, wagons waiting to load box cars on First Ave. Monte Vista circa 1910, cattle branding, and the potato fields adorned the walls. The exhibits were tributes similar to the Altares (alters) used in the Dio de Los Muertos celebration. They contained bright colors and various objects that belonged to the deceased such as trinkets, rosaries, and paintings, also called retables (retables are paintings of religious scenes). The altares also had ofrendas, which are tributes to the deceased given by a friend or family member highlighting that person’s life. It gave the reader an intimate look into that person’s life, as well as how the family chose to honor that person.
Dios de Los Muertos is a religious ceremony that was practiced by the indigenous peoples of Mexico (the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples) predating the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican people kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during rituals symbolically to represent the cycle of death and rebirth. They also believed that the dead would return and visit during the month long celebration.
Eventually the ritual was adopted into the Spanish Catholic religion. In this way the ritual changed into what is more recognizable today. Now instead of being a month long it is from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. The skulls do retained their significance in the ritual, however. Actual skulls were replaced by sugar and wooden skulls. The skulls and skeletons are not meant to be scary but whimsical. People will often dress as skeletons to celebrate.
Altares are usually very lavish. The more recent that the deceased has passed away the more elaborate the altares. Families usually spend months saving for the altares. Most of the items consist of what the deceased enjoyed in life. This ranges from favorite toys to favorite foods.
Wooden and sugar skulls usually adorn the altares. The sugar skulls contain the name of the deceased on their foreheads and honor their “sweet spirit”. Brightly colored tissue paper cut in elaborate designs are used to give the altares a festive atmosphere. Candles are also found on the altares. Some have pictures of saints adorning them. They are there for the dead to warm their hands. Pictures of the deceased are also present. Salt is found on the altares because it is considered the spice of life. Drinks are provided for the dead to quench their thirst and the scent of Marigolds and Copals are said to draw the spirits back home.
In addition to the exhibit, author, photographer, designer, and installation artist Kathy T. Hettinga was present at Community Partnerships to discuss her book titled Grave Images: San Luis Valley.
A small group of about 15 were present for the slide show and talk. The slide show consisted of pictures that Kathy Hettinga had taken of rural graveyards throughout the San Luis Valley. It highlights the folk art hidden in the decoration of the various gravesites occupying the valley. It also calls attention to the cultural art and uniqueness within the different grave sites. The pictures shown in the slide show can also be found in her book.
She spoke of how she came upon the grave sites and their religious and cultural significance. She did the project to gain understanding of loss, grief, and the need to memorialize and pay tribute to the deceased and their families. She also gave perspectives of the San Luis Valley as a final resting place from the stand point of religious and historical contexts. The project began in 1994 and took her 14 years to complete.
Kathy Hettinga spoke of the premature death of her husband, displaying a slide of a marvelously designed headstone that she had made for him. She went on to explain that the event inspired her to begin the book project, calling it catharsis or the purging of emotional tension through her art. She initially began by doing print making and soon followed that up by beginning her photographs of lambs on headstones. Lambs are usually found on the head stones of children she said. She than began her project on the Valley.
She began the slide show by showing pictures of the area surrounding her studio north of Villa Grove, which has breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. She continued on with images of the valley taken from space showcasing the broad expanse that the valley covers. Images of the unique headstones followed. Periodically she would read excerpts’ from her book to describe the image on the slide. She explained how there are hundreds of cemeteries that can be found in the valley and that they are all unique. Some of the cemeteries are Spanish Catholic, some Anglo-Protestants, some Mormons, and some Presbyterians. There are also the Penitentes, which did occupy a fair amount of the Valley due to the limited Catholic influence this far north of what was formerly Mexico.
The headstones or grave markers of the cemeteries varied. Many were made from wood but few looked similar. Some would be greatly ornate, some as simple as two boards nailed together. Others were made of various types of stones from granite to sandstone to turquoise. Crosses are the dominant theme with most. Her pictures of the graveyards, with their images of crosses and headstones set against the backdrop of the Valley’s gorgeous scenery, make people consider their own mortality indefinitely.
So, this Halloween while you’re out at a costume party living it up or trick or treating, remember that it is also the beginning of Dios de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
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