All Soul's Day Traditions, Ecuador
Prehispanic and Hispanic Influences Merge in Colada Morada & Guaguas
November 2 is a day families gather at cemeteries to clean gravesites and feast with their deceased. Blueberry-based colada and bread "babies" (guaguas) are traditions.
On November 2nd, Ecuadorians celebrate Día de los Difuntos, literally Day of the Deceased, or All Soul’s Day. Families remember their dearly departed by visiting their gravesites with offerings of food and flowers or other trinkets. Throughout the day roads are closed and blocked off as processions of people make their way to the cemeteries to visit the dead and decorate their graves with fresh flowers. In the smaller, more traditional towns, whole families reunite to clean the graves from dirt, dust and weeds, and then spend the afternoon eating alongside the graves. Colada morada, a blueberry and blackberry corn-based drink, is paired with guaguas de pan, sweet bread in the shape of babies. Families may also leave offerings of fava beans, cuyes (roasted guinea pig), potatoes, or other root vegetables.
Possible Origins of the Holiday
Ecuadorian anthropologists believe that this tradition began with the prehispanic indigenous Andean people, who shared food with the deceased. These prehispanic groups viewed death as a transition to another dimension, believing that the living were inextricably linked to the dead. When the Catholic Church decided to dedicate November 2nd as a day for the living to pray for souls in purgatory, it was only natural for the indigenous to equate this with their customs of sharing food and anecdotes with the dead.
A Symbol of Mestizaje
The day is a symbol of mestizaje, or the mixing of the indigenous and European races. Colada morada, the thick, hot drink that characterizes this holiday, takes Andean products such as blueberries, blackberries and corn and unites them with bread, the European counterpart. The dark purple-red colada symbolizes blood (death), while the bread, in the shape of a guagua (Quichua for “baby”, pronounced wawa), represents the body of the deceased, thus incorporating Catholic ideals (the blood and body of Christ) and a pagan ritual, a practice which was characteristic of the missionaries evangelizing the people of the New World.
Modern Day Traditions
Some of the more devout Catholics may attend a mass in honor of their deceased family members, and priests will often visit the cemeteries, sprinkling Holy Water on the offerings of food families have left behind. While it is still possible to see people in small towns and villages upholding some All Soul’s Day traditions (eating in the cemeteries, bringing food to the dead, wearing purple or black as a sign of loss), many of these customs have been lost in the larger cities. The cemeteries of Sangolquí and Calderón in the outskirts of Quito, for example, are brimming with mourners on this day, but within the city it is acceptable for families to leave a few flowers and then continue on with the holiday, no longer as much a day of reflection and remembrance anymore as a day off of work.
