The Days of the Dead and the United Nations (video)

Over the last few days I’ve seen people on the streets carrying orange flowers, people mobbing the bakeries for "Day of the Dead Bread", and children bringing various fruits to school for offerings to the dead.  Yes, it’s that time of year again.

I learned something new recently – the Days of the Dead actually has an official worldwide status.  The United Nations, in its effort to catalogue and preserve what it considers to be cultural treasures, has included this celebration on it’s list called the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  This is a list of 90 intangible items from all around the world, and so apparently the Days of the Dead is one that they consider to be among the most important on a worldwide scale.  (See their write-up on the Days of the Dead here)

The video below comes from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.  From what I know, it’s fairly accurate, although I think it misses the "festive, fun and mocking" side of the celebration that I’ve written about before.

Also, it sort of makes it sound like this is an indigenous festival in just some communities, when in reality it’s a Mexico-wide holiday that’s a highly valued part of the culture.  The recent bicentennial celebration was proof of this, if you happened to see it – of all the things about Mexican culture and history that could have been celebrated, the Days of the Dead took an honoured place…