Today, Day of the Dead in Aztlan has become one of the most celebrated Mexican cultural traditions in the southwest United States. It strengthens the cultural cohesion of the Chicano community and is an unprecedented example of how Chicano movement politics and Neo-Native philosophy have merged to create a vital new Chicano art form. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn the mid-20th century, festivities held to commemorate El Día de los Muertos saw a decline, or even disappearance, in their celebration in Mexico. American population living in urban communities here in the United States. It was the product of increased cultural assimilation. In 1972, Chicana/o artists living in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas took a stand against this whitewashing trend and reclaimed the Day of the Dead as an ethnic ritual by reviving, renewing, and reinventing it. . This cultural phenomenon was embraced by many communities in the Southwest, sparked by social and political struggles, known today as the Chicano movement, giving it its decidedly political nature. Since then, Chicano artists have integrated Day of the Dead practices and their artistic production. shows cultural recovery efforts of self-preservation and empowerment. It is important to mention that most efforts were ephemeral and not intended to be observed by the community or critics as artistic practices. According to Carlos Francisco Jackson, the Day of the Dead is the result of hybrid Mexican and Mexican-American religious practices, resulting from the blending of pre-Columbian spirituality and Spanish Catholicism. El Día de los Muertos, or El Día de los Fieles Difuntos, connects rituals that pay homage to the pre-Columbian memory of the sacred afterlife, with two Roman Catholic holidays. In their efforts to expand and improve their visual vocabulary and evolving symbolic system, Chicano artists discovered this hidden pictorial language in Mexican sources and carefully appropriated it, much as a visual archaeologist would. In this cultural dig for new, meaningful, and self-defining iconography, Chicano artists embraced Mexico's indigenous past. Día de los Muertos originated in ancient Mesoamerica, encompassing Mexico and the northern part of Central America. These cultures practiced similar ceremonies and shared similar values ​​toward death and the afterlife. Human beings were believed to descend to the underworld after death where they would reach Xibalba (place of fear), coined by the Mayan belief system, where there was not much chance of escape unless a individual dies a violent death and avoids Xibalba altogether. The underworld was largely associated with water, with its own vast and varied landscape. It was ruled by a group of around 9 or 14 gods with fearsome names, known collectively as the Lords of the Underworld, and as its inhabitants, bloodthirsty predators lived there. The Mayans believed that the underworld had nine different levels and two great rivers. which crosses it. To reach the ninth level, the deceased had to face many trials and tribulations, including crossing dangerous waters and rivers of blood, high mountains, fending off knives and spinning obsidian arrows, not to mention the sacrifice of his heart. To help the souls survive this ordeal, they were buried or cremated with weapons, tools, weaving kits,jade and other precious goods, foods like hot chocolate, and even real or pottery dog ​​figurines to guide souls and serve as companions. For the Nahua people, the soul was a divine creation making it indestructible, now allowing it to enter the afterlife. Special destinations were assigned to those who died in combat, aquatic diseases, childbirth, and babies who died prematurely. Nevertheless, the majority of the deceased entered Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead, ruled by Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl. Chicunamictlán, like Xibalba, had nine levels. The journey to reach Mictlán, their final resting place, would take approximately four years, where the souls would face many perils. Rituals to honor the dead held by the Nahua people in August required family members to provide provisions such as food, water, and tools to help the deceased on this arduous journey. Coincidentally, ancient Europe also held pagan celebrations for their deceased in the fall. These celebrations included bonfires, dancing and feasting. The Roman Catholic Church unofficially adopted some of these customs and incorporated them into two of their minor holidays, All Saints' Day celebrated on November 1 and subsequently All Souls' Day, celebrated on November 2. people in medieval Spain brought wine and pan de ánimas (spiritual bread) to the graves of their deceased. Then they would cover the graves with flowers and light candles in an attempt to light the path of the departed soul to find its way back to Earth. The 16th-century Spanish conquistadors brought these traditions to the New World, with a darker view of death as a product of the devastation caused by the bubonic plague. Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and other indigenous groups who commemorated their deceased at different times. depending on whether the loved one was an adult or a child at the time of death, mixed these two Spanish holidays with their pre-Hispanic traditions to designate November 1 as the day of commemoration of deceased children, while November 2 served to honor the adults. Jackson informs us that traditionally, practices for celebrating Day of the Dead include a special mass, prayers, visits to the graves of deceased loved ones, candlelight vigils, the preparation and consumption of special dishes, and provision for the dead, including food, water, flowers, candles, and personal symbolic trinkets placed and arranged on home altars, called ofrendas (offerings) during Día de los Muertos celebrations. Influences on the development of a Chicano iconography include the lithographs and etchings of the master of Mexican printmaking, José Guadalupe Posada. His Day of the Dead-inspired folk art was satirical and political in nature, where his animated skeletons (Calaveras) became well known. Posada's calaveras were a powerful means of moralization and social equalization. In the United States, Chicano artists of the 1970s produced Día de los Muertos works referencing Posada's work, transporting the image of the calavera to new frontiers. Chicano artists also used altars and nichos, which are used to display images of saints, to remember and pay homage to the lives and contributions that deceased family members, friends, and community figures left behind. through their contributions, to document history. collective memory of the Mexican American community. In 1970, the painter Carlos Bueno, the photographer Antonio Ibanez and the graphic designer.