It wasn't that long ago that in the United States Día de los Muertos was an obscure holiday for most people that they maybe learned about from their Latino friends or was briefly mentioned in school. Nowadays, Day of the Dead is embraced by so many in the US, regardless of their cultural background that it's gotten a bit tangled up with Halloween and not in a good way. There's nothing wrong with celebrating both Día de los Muertos and Halloween, but let's remember that they are by no means the same thing and respect their differences so as not to erase their history.
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Knowing the differences between the two holidays is a great way to teach your children about both. As adults, we may know the differences and assume that they are obvious to others, but that's not always the case, especially when it comes to children. Children don't know what they aren't taught and if they walk into a store and see a card that has a Catrina-style skeleton with the words "Happy Halloween" on it, their brains won't see the discrepancy and they'll start to think of Catrinas as being associated with Halloween.
Our history—everyone's history—matters. The similarities and differences of our cultures are to be celebrated for sure, but let's not lump them all together. Let's appreciate them so as not to appropriate them without regard to their true significance.
Listen to the differences between Halloween and 'Día de Muertos' in this episode of our Spanish podcast 'Mamá Dice:
To that end, here are a few of the differences between Halloween and Día de los Muertos…