Día de los Muertos celebration at Rushmore Mall

RAPID CITY – A vibrant, multicolored and exotic performance that one does not often witness in and around He Sapa (Black Hills) took place inside the Rushmore Mall on Friday, November 4.

Fernando Hernandez, owner of Sentli Jewelry Store inside the Rushmore Mall, believes in the importance of sharing cultures. Hernandez, from the Zapotec Nation in Oaxaca, Mexico, said he became acquainted with the Lakota Culture in 2007 when he participated in Sun Dance Ceremonies and other Lakota Cultural events, with the Poor Thunder, Helper and other families.

Hernandez said he wanted to give back and share his culture with the Lakota people. So when he met the Aztec Dancers, Kalpulli Huitzillin, at a celebration in Mendota, Minnesota, he invited them to the Black Hills to give a performance during Día de los Muertos.

Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives, when it is believed that the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolves. During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honored guests in their celebrations, and leave the deceased’s favorite foods and other offerings at gravesites or on “ofrendas.” The holiday usually takes place around the first of November and in some cultures runs until November 6.

Día de los Muertos, was celebrated inside an empty store front just across the way from Hernandez’s Sentli Jewelry Store. A four shelf “ofrendas” (alter) was constructed and painted with Aztec Motifs, with all the shelfs lined with “Flor de Muerto” (Flower of Dead) or marigolds. Marigolds are believed to be the pathways that guide the spirits to their “ofrendas”. The flower’s vibrant colors and scent are said to attract the departed souls, as they return to feast on their favorite foods. They symbolize the beauty and fragility of life. Also on the shelves were Aztec figurines surrounded by photographs of relatives who had passed on, as well candles, elaborately decorated skulls and sage.

Assisting Hernandez with the Día de los Muertos celebration was Adelina Trujillo, an Oaxaca Native from San Jose, Calif. Trujillo said she also wanted to share her culture and danced in the Grand Entry at the He Sapa Wacipi wearing her Native regalia. Wanting to share her heritage with the Lakota people, she helped organize Friday’s event.

Wearing her Native Regalia and her face painted to coincide with Día de los Muertos traditions, Trujillo shared, “I am of mixed ancestry and there is nothing wrong with being mixed. We are finding ways to heal and become more connected. We are of this land and we are magic.”

Wicasa Wakan Robert Rattling Chase, opened the Día de los Muertos celebration Friday afternoon with prayer and words that promote peace between diverse Indigenous nations.

“We need to enjoy each other’s cultures, acknowledge each other’s cultures, so we can look forward to a brighter future for all of us,” Rattling Chase said.

The afternoon audience was also entertained by George White Horse, of Dine and Ihanktowan Dakota heritage who played his melodious renditions of Lakota Flute music.

White Horse said he grew up in the Four Sacred Mountains area in Arizona in a place called the Hard Rock Community. Although he did not grow up knowing his Dakota heritage he came to South Dakota and reconnected to his roots here. White Horse said he met Hernandez a few years back when he traded a flute with him for Macaw feathers.

“When I play my flute music, it makes people feel uplifted and we share good energy,” White Horse said.

He said there is a legend that tells of a time when the “people of the eagle and the people of the condor” will come together. “I think that is what is happening now.”

The audience was invited to return in the evening for a performance by the Aztec Dancers, Kalpulli Huitzillin, who had traveled from St. Paul, Minn., to share in the Día de los Muertos celebration.

At 6 p.m. drumbeats and the haunting sound of conch shell trumpets reverberated through the Rushmore Mall as elaborately adorned Aztec concheros (dancers) bedecked in feathered penachos (headdresses), each embellished with uniquely decorated outfits came dancing into the room as the ayoyote shells on their ankles rattled in unison to the drum.

As they encircled the “ofrenda” the concheros raised their horns and paid homage to the four sacred directions, fire, water, earth, wind. Each Aztec dance song had different movements, which dancers classify by names. Some of the best known are the rabbit dance, the snake dance and the deer dance.

The aerobic skills of each dancer literally took your breath away as they performed their dances for nearly an hour, not missing a beat. Although they did not sing along with each dance they sang with their feet.

After the stunning performance was complete, Hernandez and Trujillo served a meal of Wahunpi (soup), rice, beans, little round Mexican corn cakes and a dessert made from chilies.

Hernandez from the Zapotec Nation in Oaxaca, Mexico opened Sentli Jewelry Store in the Rushmore Mall over a year ago which features jewelry, artifacts and clothing made by indigenous cultures from Mexico. They are located just outside At Home on the North Side of the mall.

(Contact Ernestine Anunkasan Hupa at anunkasanhupa@gmail.com)

 

The post Día de los Muertos celebration at Rushmore Mall first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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