Abstract

LICONA VALENCIA, Ernesto; CASTILLO ESPINOSA, Ana Isabel  and  BRIETZKE, Anna Sophie. Territory and the redistribution of goods offered on the Day of the Dead in San Miguel Canoa, Puebla. Cuicuilco. Rev. cienc. antropol. [online]. 2017, vol.24, n.69, pp.207-228. ISSN 2448-8488.

The redistribution of goods begins on November 2, when “baskets” are made up of the goods that were originally offered to the dead, which are then distributed to relatives and friends, and circulated widely throughout San Miguel Canoa; in fact, each family offers and/or receives these decorated “baskets.” The objective of this paper is to analyze the cultural practice of the elaboration of these “baskets” as a symbolic form that interweaves complex beliefs, hierarchical alliances, and domestic groups, through the redistribution of offered goods (gifts). The function of these goods is the governance of social relations through the mediation of dead relatives, thus reproducing the established ritual and order. This is why the character of this practice is social rather than religious, thus constituting a definitive symbolic element typical of the region of San Miguel Canoa.

Keywords : Day of the Dead; ritual; distribution of goods; gift; territory.