"Dead Bread" - a Mitla Tradition

 

The town that I grew up in in Mexico was named Mitla which means “place of the dead” or “place of rest” in Zapotec. The town was originally designated as a sacred burial site and has prehistoric ruins, pyramids, and tombs from when the valley was first settled by the Zapotecs. Many of the people that live in my town are indigenous Zapotecs and take every opportunity to celebrate their culture and to make sure that their culture is kept alive and passed down to new generations.

One of the ways that they do this is by celebrating Day of the Dead, where people spend November 1-2 (and the days leading up to it) honoring their loved ones and family members who have passed away. They believe that on these days, their loved ones’ spirits will return to visit them and they want their loved ones to know that they are welcome to visit and were remembered while they were away. They do this by making ofrendas (or offerings) with alebrijes, sugar skulls, flowers, food, and pictures of their loved ones. For a surprisingly accurate depiction of what this looks like, watch the Disney Movie “Coco.”

Although Day of the Dead is celebrated all over Mexico and by many Latinos in the United States and beyond, in Mitla Day of the Dead was heavily intertwined with the town’s history and heritage. One of the foods that they put on their ofrenda in Mitla was a bread baked only around Day of the Dead that has been frosted with designs that tell the stories of their loved ones and of their Zapotec and Mexican heritage. This bread is a special way to honor and tell the story of the people and culture that shaped them into who they are.

One of the things that I learned from growing up in a very indigenous town in Mexico is that holidays like these remind us to always look for ways to learn more about other people’s cultures and find every opportunity to celebrate our own culture and heritage.   

(Written and reprinted with permission by my daughter, Bekah Nicholson)