FLAGSTAFF, AZ (By Betsey Bruner, Arizona Daily Sun) October 24, 2007 — Christina Anaya, 35, always carries close a copy of her grandmother's obituary. Her grandmother, Liboria Quiroz, died on July 31, 1990, just after her 76th birthday.

In addition to the obituary, Anaya also cherishes memories of her beloved grandmother when she was alive.

"You just feel their presence in your heart," Anaya said. "I know she's carrying me through life. I feel that every day."

Since Oct. 1, Anaya and other members of her family here in Flagstaff have created items for display on the family altar for Dia de los Muerto, the Day of the Dead, an ancient Meso-American holiday celebrated Oct. 31 through Nov. 2.

"It's more fun and more enriching to celebrate Day of the Dead, versus celebrating Halloween," Anaya said.

Her family's altar will be one of more than 12 altars installed in the Jaime Major Golightly Historic Courtyard at the Museum of Northern Arizona during Celebraciones de la Gente, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This is the second year the museum has hosted the celebration, which is dedicated to promoting Mexican/Mexican American/Hispanic culture. There will be many activities, including those that focus on how to pay homage to the dead.

Anaya helped make a number of sugar skulls out of meringue powder for various altars. She will also place several items that honor her grandmother on the family altar: A photograph of Liboria, a bowl of Hispanic soup ( her favorite food,) a cup of hot tea (her favorite drink) and daisies (her favorite flowers).

Her grandmother died when Anaya was 19, but she remembers her vividly.

"She was just a very uplifting and warm person," she said. "She was very faithful, attending Mass every weekday and every Sunday. She worked with the priests. She had 10 children that she raised on her, because my grandfather was out of the picture. She just opened the door to everyone, to help them if they needed a meal or just someone to talk to. She just made you smile when you saw her."

Connecting to Hispanic Roots

Anaya is a member of Nuestras Raices, a local group of community members whose families came from the first Hispanic pioneers in Flagstaff. Her mother, Lydia Anaya, is one of the founders. The organization started 10 years ago with the name Hispanic Pioneers, which was changed to Nuestras Raices (Our Roots) three years ago.

"Part of the mission of our group is to preserve some of the traditions and culture," said Armando Gonzales, a member of Nuestras Raices for about eight years.

This is the second year museum organizers have combined forces with Nuestras Raices members to bring the Day of the Dead holiday to life at Celebraciones de la Gente.

Nuestras Raices has a core group of 12, and special activities such as Day of the Dead pull in many more people who want to get involved.

"This celebration helps bring back traditions that are getting lost," said Delia Munoz, a longtime Nuestras Raices member.

The colorful Day of the Dead activities, involving creating sugary items, paintings and paper mache crosses, skeletons and animals, draw in many new people from inside and outside the Hispanic community.

"We're starting to get younger people, especially for Day of the Dead; they get really interested," Gonzales said. "The Mexicans, for the most part, were poor. They couldn't afford canvas and used whatever was available — corrugated metal, paper mache, corn husks. Mexicans are pretty resourceful."

Katrina, Lady of Death

Yvette Baca, 23, an art student at Coconino Community College, is especially fascinated by Katrina, the skeletal lady of death who figures prominently in every Day of the dead celebration.

A relatively new member of Nuestras Raices, she has created some acrylic paintings on glass and some on canvas, mostly of Katrina, to be placed on altars. The glass paintings are in reverse, with the image on the back side of the glass, to be viewed from the front.

"I'm Hispanic; I want to really express the culture," she said. "Katrina is a lady skeleton. She wears hats, flowers — roses, yellow marigolds — feathers, jewelry and she's wearing a dress. She just looks really ladylike."

Nuestras Raices started creating the family altars about five years ago. At last year's Celebraciones de la Gente, the group set up a large community altar and welcomed the public to bring mementos of their loved ones. This year, in addition to the community altar, there will be an altar honoring at least 20 local veterans of many cultural backgrounds.

"It's been a kind of an educational, growing thing for people in the community," Munoz said. "It was something they hadn't heard of. It depends on the individual and how they accept death. One person told me, 'Americans don't have traditions.' They just bury someone and kind of forget the whole thing, rather than to celebrate their lives after they're dead."

A Place to Market Cultures

Celebraciones de la Gente marks the last 2007 marketplace in the museum's annual Heritage Program, the popular string of festivals, marketplaces and forums that highlight the diverse cultures of the Colorado Plateau — Hopi, Navajo and Hispanic.

Performers, artisans, vendors and educators will bring to life the excitement of the Mexican-Latino-Chicano lifestyle. This year's festivities open with a copal incense blessing by traditional Aztec fire dancers from Mexico City.

The weekend schedule brims with cultural highlights: Music, dance, artist demonstrations, graffiti artists at work, local historic photography and discussions, children's crafts and cultural speakers.