Some holiday traditions travel with immigrants
Las Pastoreles follows the journey of the Wise Men as they follow the Star of Bethlehem to honor the newborn Jesus. Along the way they are tempted by the devil with the seven deadly sins. Each time the Archangel Michael appears to save them so they can continue their travels. At the last, Michael changes the devil into a pinata.
The Latino population of Tuscarawas and surrounding counties, as its people move their lives into a new and often unfamiliar culture, have brought with them many traditions and rituals from their homes in Latin America. At the Christmas season many of those traditions are maintained, others adapted somewhat and still others left behind altogether.
Jeff Stewart is director of the Immigrant Worker Project in Canton. He has become well-versed in the holiday traditions of area Latino families.
“The Latino population of the Dover-New Philadelphia area is mainly from two places: Mexico and Guatemala,” Stewart said. “They share some traditions with the rest of Central America, and they each have customs which are mostly unique to them.”
Going on now through Christmas Eve is a major holiday tradition called Las Posadas. Posadas translates to “shelter” or “inn.”
“It is a recreation of the journey of Joseph and Maria. This is normally done with people in costume portraying the holy family,” Stewart said. “In Latin America, principally in Guatemala, the nativity scene or creche is at a single location, and the group ends up there.”
Here this has been adapted, as the nativity scene is usually moved with the group. Each night over nine evenings, the group travels from house to house. Half of the people are outside the houses and the other half inside. Outside the house, they sing out that they are seeking shelter, and inside, the group sings that there is no room available.
At the final house, the inside group sings a song of welcome. Inside the final location a traditional meal of tamales is usually served with the tamales made of rice rather than cornmeal. A drink, made of apples, prunes, sugarcane and other ingredients called ponche, also is served.
In our area St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, which has a strong outreach program into the Latino community, is the final destination for Las Posadas on Christmas Eve. The celebrants arrive at the church and sing their plea for shelter. Inside, the welcome song is sung, and the groups join inside for a bilingual mass.
“It was traditionally a Catholic observation,” Stewart said, “but it has become a key part of the culture in Central America and crosses into the nonreligious or other denominations.”
A tradition with strong ties to Mexico is Las Pastoreles. “This is prevalent in parts of Mexico but not often seen here,” Stewart said. “We brought in a troupe to do it a few years ago. It is very beautiful and all sung operatically. When you see it performed, it is a powerful thing.”
Las Pastoreles follows the journey of the Wise Men as they follow the Star of Bethlehem to honor the newborn Jesus. Along the way they are tempted by the devil with the seven deadly sins. Each time the Archangel Michael appears to save them so they can continue their travels. At the last, Michael changes the devil into a pinata.
“This is where the tradition of the pinata comes from,” Stewart said. “It has seven points, which represents the sins.”
Something that is often seen in Mexico and Guatemala that has not made the transition to East Central Ohio is the tradition of setting off lots of fireworks for Christmas. “That just isn’t done here at all, really,” Stewart said.
Music, however, is a strong part of most of the traditions of the region and remains important here.
The giving of gifts for Christmas was not a part of the holiday tradition in Latin America for a long time.
“You might give a piece of fruit, but that’s all,” Stewart said. “The gifts were saved for Epiphany in January to mark the arrival of the Three Kings at the place of the holy family. But that has changed in both parts of the world, and you usually see gifts exchanged at Christmas here now. Of course St. Joseph’s Church still holds a strong Three Kings celebration as well.”
Anyone is welcome to observe or participate in celebrations at St. Josephs Parish throughout the season. The church is at 613 N. Tuscarawas Ave. in Dover.