Families Pay Tribute to the Dead at Latino Celebration

With the help of three grand-daughters, Hope Negrette spent a couple of hours Sunday erecting an altar in honor of their family.

They draped a table with an embroidered cloth and a chair with a Mexican blanket, and placed other blankets on the ground. On these, they placed artifacts from their family history--brandy that belonged to Negrette’s brother, her father’s Mexican Army photo and a picture of her uncle dancing.

They also included fruits, chiles, beans and rice, favorite foods of family members whose memory they were honoring.

“When you put these out, you have a feeling they’re right here with you,” said Negrette, a Sun Valley resident, whose family was one of about half a dozen that erected altars to deceased relatives at the Dia de los Muertos--Day of the Dead--event at the Andres Pico Adobe in Mission Hills.

The holiday is filled with music, dancing and food, including a special sweet bread covered with sugar and cinnamon and baked in the shape of a body, or in a circle to represent the soul.

“Latinos find a certain joy in every event in life, even with death,” said Marie Gonzales, co-founder of the celebration held by the San Fernando Valley Latino Arts Council. Gonzales is Negrette’s niece.

The family altars were decorated with a variety of mementos--hats, pottery, guitars, chocolate-covered cherries and cups of coffee sitting next to playing cards. A pool cue leaned against a table. The smell of burning incense wafted through the fall air.

“They’re sharing what had been their grief, but also what had made them happy,” Gonzales said.

One altar created by San Fernando middle and high school students included photos of Latinos who were successful in Hollywood, such as Carmen Miranda, Rita Hayworth, Desi Arnaz, Jose Ferrer and Raul Julia.

The Day of the Dead celebration in the Valley, created three years ago, gives local artists a chance to display their works. Bands and dancers performed, and in a booth, children’s faces were painted white and black to represent skulls.

Gonzales was happy the event also drew non-Latinos.

“It’s gratifying to see people of other cultures want to have their children learn about another culture,” she said.