Dia de Los Muertos at the Smithsonian's Native American Indian Museum

October 31 – November 1, 2015, 10AM – 5 PM

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is an ancient indigenous celebration that honors our ancestors and the cycle of life. With origins in pre-Hispanic Mexico, Day of the Dead has blended with other traditions, especially Catholicism. Today, it is celebrated increasingly in the United States to honor community history and family memories.

Join the Smithsonian Latino Center and the National Museum of the American Indian in our free Día de los Muertos family festival. This colorful celebration of life includes food demonstrations by the museum’s Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe and a cultural presentation of La Danza de los Tecuanes performing Dance of the Jaguars and Dance of the Old Men. Learn how to create papel picado with David Amoroso.

The iconic Chicana artist Carmen Lomas Garza will give a talk in the Rasmuson Theater at 1:30 pm, and at 3 pm will demonstrate papel picado traditions.

Award winning poet Francisco X. Alarcón will perform works which address myth, history and identity in the Rasmuson Theater at 3:00 pm.