How To Celebrate Dia de los Muertos (A Brief Guide For Non-Latinos)

First off, it’s not an excuse to drink copious amounts of tequila at your local dive bar.

The second day of November is celebrated in the Catholic Church as “All Souls Day.” In Latin America, the day transformed into a mix of European and Indigenous traditions of remembering the dead called “Dia de los Muertos,”  In recent years, the aesthetics of the holiday have been rapidly appropriated outside of Latino culture and taken out of context

Maria Cotera is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan. She spoke with WDET’s Amanda LeClaire. Cotera says there are many ways for how non-Latinos to respectfully observe Dia de los Muertos. 

 

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire
    Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. She’s a founding producer of WDET’s flagship news talk show Detroit Today, and a former host/reporter for Arizona Public Media. Amanda is also an artist, certified intuitive and energy healer, and professional tarot reader.