By Ignacio Ochoa
Director of Nahual Foundation, a Think Tank by and for Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.

On November 1^st and 2nd, a powerful force stirs in all the towns of Guatemala. Traditional markets are adorned with flowers of sempa (orange marigolds), chrysanthemums, wild daisies, and the smell of copal – a pre-Columbian incense made from pine resin. The pickup trucks and vans carrying people on the dirt roads between villages have much heavier loads than usual. People take wreaths or coronas (“wreaths”) of fresh flowers, candles, dried and sugared fruits, festive foods such as tamales and fiambre (a cold meat and vegetable dish prepared in Guatemala only at this time of year), tissue-paper kites of many colors, and machetes to cut the weeds from the tombs of deceased family members. In villages, church bells chime on the hours of matins, lauds, angelus, and vespers.¹ the Roman Catholic canonical hours for prayers. All of these activities are part of celebrations for El Día de los Difuntos or “the Day of the Dead,” a festival which many English speakers associate with Mexico. However, it is also a very important festival throughout Guatemala, especially in the majority indigenous (Kaqchikel) town of Santiago Sacatépequez, where it is the occasion for a beautiful and unique kite-flying ritual. Although part of the official Catholic festival calendar- the day of All Saints and Martyrs- the Guatemalan celebration integrates this Christian framework with pre-Columbian Mayan practices.

An important part of the celebration is the role played by the cofradías or religious “brotherhoods.” In Santiago Sacatepéquez, there are six cofradías dating from the seventeenth century, each dedicated to a different Catholic saint. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, Catholic missionaries instituted these brotherhoods throughout Latin America as a way of involving lay people in the religious life of the church. Their responsibilities were meant to help catechize them and encourage them to have a stake in the church. These responsibilities included maintaining the shrine of the saints housed inside the church, organizing prayer novenas, and preparing for celebrations on the feast days of respective saints.

These cofradías have an explicitly Christian form and mission, however they also represent important and long-standing institutions which have been run by indigenous people, often in indigenous languages, for generations. In the cofradías, indigenous peoples have traditionally decided how religious celebrations would be observed, blending many Mayan practices with Catholic rituals. Especially since Guatemala’s independence from Spain (1821), the cofradías have been outside the oversight of priests and the official Church hierarchy. The heavily indigenous cofradías are one important example of how the Maya worldview has survived the imposition of the Catholic ideological framework by the Spanish through a strategy of syncretism.

For the past five centuries, indigenous populations throughout the Americas have struggled to maintain their cultural practices, beliefs, and languages. In Guatemalan cofradías, as with the correspondences between African gods and Catholic saints in Haitian Santería or Celtic goddesses like Brigit rebaptized as saints in Ireland, lay Catholic traditional practices represent the survival ofpre-Christian icons, rituals and beliefs.

The leaders of the cofradías are called mayordomos, and the most important or primer mayordomo is also called the cofrade. He is chosen by the villagers for a one-year term and must be an upstanding member of both the town and church community. During this time, he and his family are responsible for financing everything related to the feast day of the saint. This includes paying for fireworks, food, and clothing for the saint, and these expenses can lead to incurring great personal debt in order to fulfill these obligations. Organizing the celebration takes an entire year to plan and involves not only religious obligations, but also coordination with municipal services and local political leaders, giving the brotherhood a great deal of political and social clout in the town. The more services the cofradía provides to the town, the more the leader of the cofradía rises in the esteem of the people. The next year, a new mayordomo is elected to undertake the responsibility of financing the festivities. Over time, this practice creates a network of reciprocal obligations between town members.

The official court system based on the Guatemalan constitution and the concepts of Roman law holds sway in Santiago Sacatepéquez, as throughout Guatemala. However, there is a parallel system regulating citizen behavior within the village. Although not written down in legal tomes nor enforced by police, there exists a morally binding system of community expectations. These expectations govern practices such as mutual aid, inheritance of property within families, voluntary work for the benefit of the whole community, and the annual repago..² Adult village-members living abroad can face ostracism for failing to live up to their financial obligations to the village. These communal practices have long been the glue which holds indigenous societies together in the face of outsider (Ladino, non-indigenous) domination.

In most Guatemalan towns or municipios, there are several cofradías. In Santiago Sacatepéquez, there are six – each dedicated to a different saint..³ In addition to the statue of their respective saint which stays in a shrine inside the church, each cofradia is responsible for a smaller statue which they keep in a shrine in members’ homes (the shrine rotates from house to house annually). These antique statues have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. For every religious celebration, six men and six women of the cofradía join together to work for the benefit of the community. Although the patron saint of Santiago Sacatepéquez is Saint James, the most prestigious cofradía in the town is that of Saint Michael Archangel, responsible for the celebration of the Day of the Dead. This illustrates the great importance of this celebration in the hearts and minds of the townspeople.

Preparations for the Day of the Dead celebration in Santiago Sacatepéquez begin forty days before November 1st, when young people form groups and, following the lead of the oldest, begin construction of the kites. The tradition of flying kites in the cemeteries of Guatemala on Day of the Dead dates back at least 107 years..⁴ Traditionally young men did most of the work, but today young women also make kites. Together, they discuss and select themes for the intricately designed kites. Themes may be political, religious, or cultural and often draw on events from the national news. For example, in 1992 there was a kite dedicated to Mayan human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú. In 1996, there was a kite dedicated to the signing of the Peace Agreements that ended the country’s 36-year civil war that year. In 2005, a kite honored the ten-year anniversary of the public promotion of Indigenous rights.

One of the first steps in building a kite is to find the bamboo used for the frame. One day during the forty days of preparation, the young, unmarried men of the village rise at 4:00 a.m. to take a truck to the coast to hunt for bamboo. This pre-dawn journey serves as a rite of passage which helps young males to be seen as men rather than boys in the eyes of the town. The journey to the coast is difficult and once the youth arrive, the work of cutting the heavy, thick bamboo is laborious. The straightest pieces must be located, which are then cut to 10, 12, and 15 meters.

During the quest for bamboo, the young people travel in a liminal mental state, open to the challenges which present themselves along the way. They return from the coast to find townspeople waiting for them in the central park and municipal lounge, eager to hear their stories of adventures on the coast. The bamboo is distributed to the kite-making groups to begin making frames, a task they will perform every day until the Day of the Dead.

Not just the bamboo, but all kite materials used are natural. The glue is made from yucca flour mixed with pieces of lemon peel and water. These ingredients are cooked to the proper thickness. Ropes used for kite strings are made from maguey, the same plant from which tequila alcohol is extracted. The tails of the kites are made from woven cloth. Frames of smaller kites are made by weaving stalks of castilla, a plant similar to wheat which is farmed near Santiago and often used to weave baskets. But the largest kite frames are made from the bamboo gathered on the coast.

There are three main styles of kite, each with a characteristic design and typical size. Crown, Diamond, and Moon kites are all made of very thin tissue paper, which seems too thin to withstand the rough winds of the sky. “Crown” kites are from three to five meters in diameter and have a circular frame around an empty center, like a donut. The inner and outer circles are connected with four bamboo stalks. “Diamond” kites range from a half meter to ten meters in diameter and have a diamond shaped frame. These have long tails and fly on strings of fishing line. “Moon” kites are the largest and have a circular frame with a central circle of paper in the middle and range from ten to fifteen meters in diameter.

The building of a giant kite can cost more than 40,000 quetzales! For this reason, kites are sometimes sponsored by commercial establishments, but most kites are paid for by the villagers through year-round saving and fundraising.

During this special time of the year, when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead is believed to be most porous, people sometimes attach aluminum foil and paper with hand-written messages on the tails of the kites. These messages are intended to reach the heavenly spirits when the kites ascend to the sky, letting them know that they are wanted and helping to guide them in their journey from heaven to earth.

Prior to the Day of the Dead, on the last Sunday in October, the people of Santiago have a competition to determine the best kite. Kites are judged based on their colors, construction, designs, and topics. The townspeople usually show the greatest appreciation for kites involving the most intricate and difficult details and favor themes from ancestral Maya culture.

The role of women in the celebration is less public than that of men, but nonetheless crucial. Women participate in the measurement, design, and construction of the kites, preparing the ingredients (like making the glue) and materials (cloth, wicks, and strings for the tails), as well as helping to decide on colors, designs, and themes. As in traditional times, women today do the bulk of the festival food preparation and decorating of public places such as the church and town plaza with flowers and cut-out tissue paper decorations (papel picado). Young women do not travel to the coast with the men because, in Maya communities, teenage women not yet engaged or married are expected to stay close to the family for reasons of modesty and safety.

On November 1^st, the cemetery of Santiago Sacatepéquez begins to fill with people at 4:00 a.m., with families carrying floral wreaths and branches of flowers to the tombs of their deceased. The murmured conversations between family members rise in volume with the increasing light of the rising sun. While cleaning, repainting, and adorning their family tombs, people chat with neighbors, fondly reminiscing about the deceased, and catch up on the latest news. Children help their parents but also find time to run and play in the graveyard, creating an ambience of happy harmony between various families in the community. Community bonds are renewed and strengthened as people work side by side. They share paint, tools, and brushes to repaint or refurbish tombs or the wooden crosses that often mark graves. They help each other haul water to the tombs for cleaning the stones or watering the flowers. They pray together by the tombs and share food with each other. Outside the cemetery, vendors sell special holiday treats and the ever favorite atol de maiz (hot corn drink).

The bells of the church chime to announce mass on the morning of All Saints’ Day. In the house of the brotherhood of Saint Michael Archangel, people begin preparing food and drink. The smell of copal, flowers, and food greet visitors who come to offer candles of devotion to the saint and flowers for the dead. Groups of young people, carrying kites as banners, begin arriving at the cemetery. They wait for a strong wind to raise their giant kites to the skies.

A moon kite ten to fifteen meters in diameter will need four or five “flyers” or people who control the kite. A lone flyer could be lifted off the ground by a strong gust of wind! The kites test the winds and signal the spirits until 4:00 in the afternoon, when they are lowered and families gather at home to await the arrival of the souls. Inside many homes, families offer their visitors güisquiles (a vegetable which looks like an avocado and tastes like a potato) and sweet corn to eat. Chilacayote (sweet squash) and jocotes (like a sweet olive) in sweet syrup are also offered, along with a taste of chicha..⁵

Eventually, the members of the cofradía of Saint Michael Archangel begin a procession through the streets carrying the anda, a life-sized wooden statue of the saint. Members of the procession play the harp and accordion to the delight of the living and dead who accompany them. The procession travels from house to house throughout the night carrying a piggy bank which they place on the hearth of each home for monetary gifts and offerings to defray the expenses of the festivities. Along with the cofradía, other townspeople visit from house to house sharing traditional foods and alcohol. This is one of the largest and most important celebrations of the year for Mayan people.

The primer mayordomo, chief of the cofradía, sits in the place of honor in each house. When it is time to depart, he requests that the family look for an old piece of pottery, the oldest cooking pot used daily. The pot is broken at the front doorway to symbolize the entry of the spirits of the deceased who will remain with the family throughout the night. While the pot is broken, a special song is sung in honor of the dead, and the brotherhood leaves for the next house. The singing of this song by the choir is another part of the ritual cementing the connections with the deceased. These festivities continue all night on the evening of November 1^st, until the break of dawn on November 2^nd.

While this article focuses on the rituals of Santiago Sacatepéquez, Maya villages throughout Guatemala have their own important rituals for Day of the Dead. These share many aspects of the celebration in Santiago Sacatepéquez, but also have their unique traditions. For example, in Huehuetenango, the dead are serenaded in the cemetery on the eve of November 1st, as musicians go from tomb to tomb playing instruments and singing to the difuntos or the “defunct.” In Salcajá, children traditionally knock on doors on November 1st, asking for candles to place on the graves, calling out from house to house, “candelitas, candelitas para las ánimas benditas.”.⁶ In Quiriguá and many other areas of Guatemala, families have picnics by the tombs of the departed and may hold nocturnal candlelight vigils for the dead.

At 4:00 a.m. on November 2nd, townspeople in Santiago Sacatépequez begin moving toward the cemetery with candles in their hands so the spirits who have been with them all night can return home. This journey back to the cemetery is to ensure that all the spirits find their proper way (nahual be’y).⁷ to the cemetery. In towns like Salcajá, Quetzaltenango, or San Juan Sacatepéquez, the population lines the walkway from the town to the cemetery with burning candles and flowers. The footpath runs between the Catholic Church and the cemetery and the lights are intended to guide the spirits in their peaceful return to the cemetery.⁸

As the holiday winds down in Santiago Sacatepéquez, smaller children demolish their kites to signal to the spirits that their earthly visit is over and that they must now return to heaven. The giant kites which have stayed in good shape are raised to the air one final time. It is believed that the oldest spirits are the last to leave and the giant kites help lead them back to heaven.

Later that evening, the giant kites that were torn by the winds are burned inside the cemetery in the hope that the rising smoke will guide any vagabond spirits back to heaven. The kites that are still in good shape are taken to be exhibited publicly in the local Catholic church during a novena for the deceased performed by the community. Nine days later, these kites will also return to the cemetery to be burned. The ashes are then buried, completing the annual ritual for the Day of the Dead in Santiago Sacatepéquez.

NOTES:

1. Canonical hours are ancient divisions of the day, developed by the Catholic Church to mark the times for prescribed prayers. The major hours include dawn (matins); morning (lauds), noontime (angelus), and evening (vespers).

2. Expected payments similar to tithing, but paid to community organizations, rather than the church hierarchy, as in the case of the mayordomo’s payment for the annual celebration.

3. Every confraternity or “brotherhood” is presided over by a married couple, who takes charge of the patron saints of the town. Each of the six brotherhoods is responsible for one celebration annually, on the feast day of their respective saint. The brotherhoods of Santiago (July 25); Saint Michael Archangel (September 29); the Virgin of the Rosary (October 7); the Virgin of Candelaria (February 2); Saint Joseph (March 19), and Corpus Christi (takes place 50 days after Easter and therefore can fall anywhere from May to June).

4. Local records mention the kite flying ritual in Santiago Sacatepéquez in 1899.

5. Chicha is a traditional Mayan hot fermented alcoholic corn beverage simmered with ginger, jocote, and barley.

6. “Little candles for the blessed souls.”

7. A Kaqchikel word meaning the essence of the path.

8. While people welcome annual visits from their family spirits, everyone wants the spirits to return to heaven on November 2nd. Spirits who do not return are considered to be bad luck or dangerous for the community.