Into the Mind of Death

Currently, I have been looking into the print source I discussed last week, Death and the Idea of Mexico, as a way of understanding Mexico's identification with death.  So far, this is the longest and most detailed work for this project I have encountered and I feel I may need to give it more than one blog post to due it justice.  I was not able to get as far as I wanted to this weekend, but I will try to complete the entry during this upcoming week.  For now, we shall begin with the first part: "Death and the Origin of the State."


Smallpox Epidemic (link to video)

From Conquest to Conversion 

 Most of us have probably heard about the effects the Spanish explorers and conquistadores had on the indigenous population.  Lomnitz would state that "the sixteenth century was a veritable holocaust for the native population." (pg 68)  Historians today still debate the actual numbers of what occurred, but most would agree that the presence of the Spanish and their actions hindered the indigenous populations almost to the point of extinction.  The two main proponents that are attributed to this widespread death are that of disease, such as smallpox, and the forced labor of the indigenous.

These details are important to the Mexican identification with death because they represent a new understanding of death not seen in the New World, particularly Mexico for this blog's purpose.  Lomnitz looks at several aspects of death from mainly from the perspectives of the Spanish, since the indigenous were not able to properly record their thoughts.  One aspect of the Spanish perspective was to understand what was the cause of the widespread death of the indigenous.  The major theory that came about was the comparison to the ten plagues of Egypt, and that this was a result of the 'sinful' lives that the indigenous possessed. (pg 71)  This was the justification for the conversion strategies by the clergy to ensure the indigenous would possess eternal salvation.

With this mindset, the missionaries sought save the indigenous through conversion to Catholicism.  Interestingly enough, Lomnitz actually discusses the ideal death within his work much like we discussed this regarding Philip II's death in the blog posts.  However, the ideal death was quite difficult to administer in New Spain since most of the indigenous were vulnerable to the effects of European diseases.  Because of this, the clergy were willing to accept less as "...the good death of the Indians of the sixteenth century emphasized dying in the faith above all else." (pg 131)  Yet, the concept of purgatory and the final judgment became key aspects of conversion for the clergy as they hoped to change their understanding of the afterlife and common practices.

From this we see the first references to Days of the Dead.  As has been discussed in earlier posts, Days of the Dead takes place on the same day as All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day in the other Christian societies.  The origins in New Spain were simply to provide offerings to the church, but "the Days of the Dead rapidly became the largest harvest of the year." (pg 114)  This phenomenon was attributed to the mindset of the indigenous that were providing these large offerings.  Duran, an observer of the indigenous, described that the indigenous were making several offerings during this time because they associated these two days with their previous holidays that made offerings to the deceased children and adults on each day respectively. (pg 117)  The clergy were originally fearful of this development, since they attributed it to pagan worshiping, but became lenient towards the indigenous regarding those days.  In fact, "Indians were...exempt from the obligation to fast and to abstain from work on the Days of the Dead." (pg 129)  This was the beginning of the holiday known today, but there is still room for development.

For my next blogs, I hope to look at how this development of death and Days of the Dead will develop throughout the next couple of centuries.  Lomnitz's work will be the main focal point for a couple of weeks due to its sheer volume, so I hope nobody minds.

Source: Lomnitz, Claudio. Death and the Idea of Mexico. New York: Zone Books, 2005.