Phoenix celebrates Mikiztli festival, an Indigenous-focused Dia de los Muertos celebration

On Sunday, crowds gathered at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix to honor the Indigenous roots of Día de los Muertos at the annual Mikiztil festival.

"The Mikiztil is the painted decorated skull that you see, and it represents not death, but transcendence," said Zarco Guerrero, president, chair and co-founder of Cultural Coalition, the host organization of the event.

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, an ancient Mexican celebration with Indigenous Aztec roots, is typically observed on Nov. 1 and 2 during the Catholic holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. During this time, people honor their deceased relatives and invite their spirits back from beyond to join their families in the celebration.

The traditions of the holiday are vibrant and unforgettable with decorations of bright marigolds, face paint of colorful skulls and altars with images of deceased loved ones surrounded by offerings from living relatives.

The Día de los Muertos celebration well-known today in the U.S. is a medley of Indigenous origins of the tradition mixed with forced Spanish and Catholic influence, when they conquered the lands of Indigenous people, according to Carmen Guerrero, executive director and co-founder of Cultural Coalition.

The Mikiztli festival aims to revive and celebrate its Indigenous origins.

"We're trying to go back to the ancestral understanding of what this event really means... It was never about death. It was always about transcending to the next life," said Zarco Guerrero. "And the acceptance of death as part of life, so we can live life fully."

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Carmen Guerrero said another aspect of respecting the Indigenous roots is creating a "community celebration where people come together to celebrate their ancestors."

Sunday's celebration had attendees enjoying live music from Mariachi Rubor, traditional dances performed by Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli and traditional figures such as Las Flacas and La Llorona who roamed the event.

At the beginning of the event, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego acknowledged the city's support and welcomed the crowd.

Shortly after began the Danza Mexica, a form of ancestral worship to what the Aztecs described as the four sacred directions: north, south, east and west.

"We provide this dance as an offering to our ancestors, to share with them the dances that they fought for us to have access to today," said Diane Alle, one of the dancers dressed in colorful ceremonial garments.

Surrounding the stage, which was filled with live music and dance, were food vendors and an artist market highlighting Día de los Muertos crafts and designs from local creatives.

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Patricia Silva, a vendor at the event and local artist, showcased an array of paintings with traditional imagery associated with Día de los Muertos, such as intricate skeletons and skulls.

She said she has a personal connection with all the art she produced for the event. When her niece and nephew passed, Silva said she always saw monarch butterflies.

"A monarch just always seemed to just come and flutter around us and remind us that they're always here with us," said Silva. "I use a lot of that symbolism in my art."

Also present at the festival was a community altar. Built in a partnership with Chispa Arizona, a local latino-based organization focused on conservation, the altar paid homage to "land defenders and people defending Indigenous rights all over the continent whose lives were taken away," said Carmen Guerrero.

Jess Bristow, an organizer at Chispa, said most of the people honored on Sunday were murdered by big corporations or governments attempting to halt them from "protecting their lands or where their ancestors came from."

Bristow said they hoped the altar served as a tool for education.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mikiztli, Día de los Muertos festival gathers hundreds in Phoenix