By Owei Lakemfa
I attended for the first time, the Day of the Dead festival. It was at the Mexican Embassy in Abuja. The stairs leading from the embassy gates down to the swimming pool reception area was lit with over seventy candles.
There were photos of the dead. In the reception hall were two prominent photographs. To the left was that of Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian nationalist and women leader who passed away in 1978.
The photograph on the right was that of Ifigenia Martínez y Hernández credited with transforming Mexico’s political and economic landscape. She passed away on October 5, 2024. Mexicans place photographs of those whose memory they want to honour, at the altar.
Actually, it is more a Western concept to wish that the dead, rest in peace. In some religions, it is said that the dead, remain dead until awaken on judgement day. But for many in Africa, the dead are much part of the living. They merely become ancestors watching over the living. In such traditions, the dead are told not to sleep, but to remain awake and watchful.
If the dead are living, it means they are part of the household and partake in daily activities. Amongst the Ijaws of the Niger Delta and their neigbours, when alcoholic drink is to be taken, a little is first poured on the ground for the ancestors before the living commence drinking. It is also not uncommon for some food to be deliberately thrown on the ground for the ancestors. During festivals, the food and drinks of the ancestors are served specially so they can be part of the festivities.
But many indigenous peoples especially in the Americas, Caribbean and Asia specifically, set aside days of festivity to celebrate the dead and the living. Often marked on the first two days of November, some peoples actually hold the festival for weeks. For instance, Cambodia holds a 15-day festival with the last day, called the Pchum Ben, or “ball of food”.
Caribbean countries like Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua and Grenada hold the day with a blend of African funeral tradition.
The 2024 festival I attended, was a blend of Mexican culture, indigenous beliefs and Catholic traditions.
Mexican Ambassador Alfredo Miranda said Mexicans believe that life and death are a natural cycle, with death being a continuation of life in a spiritual world.
In the embassy reception hall was a beautiful seven-stage altar. The ambassador explained: “An altar is a spiritual offering, a way to communicate with the world of the dead, inviting the souls of loved ones to return for a moment to enjoy the things they loved in life… The levels of the altar, which can range from two to seven, represent different dimensions of existence. Typically, the upper levels symbolize the sky, the underworld, or the spiritual resting place, while the lower levels represent the earthly realm.”
On the numerous candles, Ambassador Miranda said: “The light from the candles symbolizes hope and faith, illuminating the path for the souls, ensuring they find their way back.” He invited the gathering to light candles in dedication to their dearly beloved that had passed.
Marigold flowers, called cempasúchil, were also on display. The envoy said they are: “believed to have a scent and colour so strong that they help guide the souls of the deceased back to their homes (and are) often laid from the doorway to the altar, symbolically leading the way for the spirits to return.”
Also, the favourite foods and drinks of the departed are placed in the altar.
Water is placed on the altar as a purifier and refreshment for the souls journeying from the spirit world. So also is salt which is believed to protect them from earthly contamination.
Incense is burnt to purify the environment and guide the spirits and, colourful paper cut-outs are made, symbolising the wind and the fragility of life.
Catrinas; elegant, finely dressed skeletal figures which are the Mexican ladies of death, were also placed in the altar. They remind people to enjoy life and laugh at death. Equally, they are supposed to encourage people to embrace death as it spares no social class.
Ambassador Miranda told the guests that: “In addition to the altars, many families visit cemeteries to clean and decorate graves, lighting candles and spending the night with their deceased loved ones, telling stories, playing music, and sometimes even dancing.”
As the night wore on, guests began to depart. I am also sure the visiting spirits also departed.
Dove-tailing into the Day of the Dead festival, was the first Mexican Food Festival in Nigeria called the ‘Mexican Gastronomic Week’ It held from October 1 – November 3, 2024.
Eduardo Perez Romero the guest chef who flew into Nigeria for the festival, told me: “We (Mexicans) love to eat so much that even our dead come back to eat with us.” He said Mexican foods avoid preservatives and that they have strong African, Spanish and Arab influences.
Mrs Maria Gudelia Salinas Pulido de Adegoroye, who is married to a Nigerian, said when she arrived in the country, she was surprised that many stew varieties she found were like those of her native Mexico. She mentioned a number of pepper varieties common to both countries and said the popular Nigeria pepper soup also has its Mexican equivalent. However, she said, while Mexicans concentrate on the soup, Nigerians focus more on the meat and fish. Mrs Adegoroye said her experience on food in both countries, led her to establish the Casa Mexicana.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO has listed the traditional cuisine of Mexico as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Maize is a central element of that Mexican cuisine. The food has led to a dispute with its neighbour, the United States, US. Mexico imposed restrictions on genetically modified, GM, corn. It said this is to protect public health and the corn biodiversity that has been Mexican tradition for 10, 000 years.
But the US holds that the ban is not in consonance with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, USMCA trade agreements. US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack filed a complaint that: “Mexico’s approach to biotechnology is not based on science and runs counter to decades’ worth of evidence demonstrating its safety and the rigorous, science-based regulatory review system that ensures it poses no harm to human health and the environment.”
But the Mexicans countered in a 200-page response that: “Far from there being a consensus on the safety of GMOs, scientific evidence points to various negative effects on health, on native corn and on the environment, derived from the cultivation and consumption of GM corn.”
For the Mexicans, maize, life and the Day of the Dead are an inseparable trinity.
